Take-Away: On November 3, the House Committee added back new tax proposals to the proposed Build Back Better Act that it had removed from the bill in the prior week. Overview: What is going on in Congress the past few weeks reminds me of what I used to do as a teenager, meaning something that […]

Take-Away: A surviving spouse as a designated beneficiary of a deceased spouse’s IRA has some options with regard to taking distributions from the inherited IRA, options that are not available to other non-spousal beneficiaries of inherited IRAs. Background: I received a couple of inquiries in the past few weeks confirming the basic the options that […]

Take-Away: With the compressed income tax brackets faced by non-grantor trusts, along with the possible imposition of additional income tax surcharges of 5% and 3%, more irrevocable non-grantor  trust should be drafted to include the authority of the trustee to make charitable distributions. Background: For years now we have come to deal with the high […]

Take-Away: While a trustee’s investment in cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoins, is permissible under the Uniform Prudent Investment Rule, a trustee may want to ‘go real slow’ before holding cryptocurrencies in trust. Background: Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoins, is are receiving significant attention these days in the press and in Congress as part of the infrastructure legislation. For good […]

Take-Away: A trustee may be exposed to removal and ordered to reimburse the trust for fees and legal expenses incurred in a trust decanting that went awry. Background: In the past we have covered Michigan’s two trust decanting statutes. MCL 700.7820a permits changes primarily to a trust’s administrative provisions. A limited opportunity also exists to […]

Take-Away: When we talk about valuing an individual’s interest in a business, the question often arises if there will be valuation discounts applied to that business interest. Existing buy-sell agreements may, or may not, indicate if a valuation discount is to be applied when an individual owner’s interest is the subject of a buyout. Background: […]

Take-Away: A recent Michigan Court of Appeals decision acts as a good reminder of how valuable a trust can be to prevent a commingling of a gift or an inheritance to avoid a family business falling into an ex-spouse’s hands. Had premarital stock owned by the husband, received from his father’s trust, continued to be […]

Take-Away: Using retirement assets to satisfy an individual’s philanthropic objectives can be done in a tax-efficient way manner. Especially with a qualified charitable distribution (QCD.) However, you just have to know the rules. Background: It is that time in the calendar year when individuals start to think about charitable giving, and/or reducing their income tax […]

Take-Away: Michigan has yet to update its laws to address assisted reproductive technology (AR), although a bill on this topic has been languishing in Lansing for several years now. Background: With advances in medical technology, a child can be conceived with stored genetic material after the death of one or both genetic parents. Intestacy statutes, […]

Take-Away: An effort is underway to amend Michigan’s version of the Uniform Voidable Transaction Act in order to preserve the effectiveness of the Michigan Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act, i.e. Michigan’s version of a self-settled domestic asset protection trust, or DAPT. Background: Much of estate planning involves the efficient transfer of assets. One obvious transfer […]