I had a brief discussion this morning about disclaimers with regard to a trust that she is currently administering and how disclaimer planning is becoming  more prevalent in estate plans these days. You will recall that a disclaimer is the exercise of a right to reject a gift or inheritance [e.g. bequest, interest in a […]

I read an article over the weekend that surprised me as to the impact of naming a noncitizen or a U.S. citizen- nonresident as a trust beneficiary. While the topic admittedly seems a bit off our normal beaten path, keep in mind that in the globalization of our world, the chances of a family member […]

On August 2nd,  the IRS published its long awaited proposed IRC 2704 Regulations. These proposed rules would make sweeping changes to valuation discounts perhaps almost completely eliminating lack of control discounts with regard to the transfer of an interest in a family owned entity. The IRS has asked for public comment and has scheduled December […]

Facts: Assume that Greenleaf Trust agrees to serve as the trustee of an irrevocable trust instrument which contains the appointment/acceptance of a trust protector. One of the powers that is expressly conferred on the trust protector under the trust instrument is the ability to ‘remove the trustee with or without cause.’ Rhetorical Question: If Greenleaf […]

I ran across an unpublished Michigan Court of Appeals decision that reaffirmed my fears that adult children often cannot be trusted to carry out their parents’ testamentary wishes when they are named as co-trustees. Trupp v. Naughton, No. 320843, May 26, 2015. [Let me know if you want to read the decision and I will […]

Estate planners often use the gift of S corporation stock to improve retirement income as part of a much broader business succession plan. Frequently included in such planning is the gift of S corporation stock to charities. But some gift strategies work much better than others. Outright Gift of Stock to Charity: While a donor […]

I recently read an article on IRAs which was a helpful reminder that some of the mistakes that are often made with IRAs cannot be ‘fixed.’ Since IRAs usually comprise a large part of our clients’ estates, we need to be vigilant as to how those IRAs are administered and how withdrawals are taken from […]

For decades, the common law clearly held that an individual could not transfer his or her assets to a trust and retain the enjoyment of those transferred assets and prevent their creditors from reaching those same assets. That longstanding rule all changed with Michigan’s 2017 Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act which has, in general, received […]

A pet trust is a unique type of trust more technically called a purpose trust.  At common law they were called an honorary trust. A conventional trust has three requirements: (i) a trustee; (ii) property; and (iii) a human beneficiary. Even if humans may only incidentally benefit from the purpose trust, e.g. the caretaker of […]

Take-Away Message: While many clients await the promised tax law ‘reform’ from a Republican-controlled Congress, there are still many  basic estate planning techniques that can be exploited to shift wealth gift-tax free and with virtually no cost or risk to the client. One of the easiest  of these techniques is an interest-free loan, or a […]