Missives

Individuals who expect to receive large lifetime gifts, or inheritance, often enter into a prenuptial agreement in order to protect their separate property.

Gift taxes can be a surprise to some individuals who have just completed their divorce. While most transfers of assets incident to a divorce do not cause a federal gift tax, there are some circumstances when a surprise taxable gift can occur.

As we inch towards 2026 and a return to planning for (or around) federal estate taxes, some surviving spouses should take a look at their existing QTIP trusts which may cause their estates to pay federal estate taxes on their deaths.

Other uses for a Michigan Qualified Dispositions in Trust exist, more than just protecting assets from future creditor claims.

Social Security Old Age & Survivors Insurance benefits are now projected to be cut to 77% starting in 2033.

Foreign trusts frequently have annual FinCEN reporting requirements, which carry stiff penalties for their failure to report. The challenge is to determine when a trust actually exists under the laws of foreign nations, and in particular, civil law jurisdictions.

As the law progresses, the historic nature of a trust as a fiduciary relationship seems to be giving way to a new approach to treat a trust as a separate legal entity.

Lifetime gifts maximize the value of a portability election.

The IRS has granted relief from penalties for those designated beneficiaries who failed to take a required minimum distribution from an inherited IRA under the SECURE Act Proposed Regulations.

While President Biden’s recent budget proposal contained many new tax proposals, it also included some provisions, aka ‘revenue generators,’ that result from changes to some common estate planning concepts. Many