Missives

Congress decided to simply prohibit any contributions to a supporting organization via a QCD or a $1,000 cash give that is claimed ‘above-the-line’ starting this year. Bottom line: Make sure your QCD or $1,000 cash gift is not to a supporting organization.

The recent Heckerling Institute had an interesting presentation on January 15, 2026, that seemed to conclude, at least to me,  that many of a trustee’s ‘old-time’ fiduciary duties are disappearing with the advent of the modern trust as states across the nation, update their trust laws to ‘entice’ trust business. Are we fast approaching a time when there are no fiduciary duties that constrain a trustee?

Cryptocurrency is a highly risky investment. Cryptocurrency that is part of the decedent’s estate or trust poses many challenges to the fiduciary to consider before accepting any appointment.

Creating a trust for spouse may continue to be a sound estate planning strategy after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.  However, rather than create a SLAT, which is a grantor trust for income tax purposes, an alternate strategy might be to intentionally create a non-grantor trust for the donor’s spouse- a SLANT.

These uniform laws, and many that were not mentioned, reflect a strong desire to bring consistency and predictability to the law, especially regarding the rules that apply to estate planning

During its growth period the funds held in a Trump Account are not supposed to be accessible, with only a couple of exceptions to this general rule.

With income tax basis planning taking center stage now that the Big Beautiful Bill Act is the law with its $15 million applicable exemption amount per person, there could be a renewed interest in intentionally springing the ‘Delaware Tax Trap’ to gain a new, higher, income tax basis in trust assets on a beneficiary’s death.

The estate planning world needs skilled trustees to handle the Baby Boomer’s generational wealth transfer. Barriers that could deter an experienced trustee from agreeing to serve in that fiduciary capacity need to be reexamined.

While Trump Accounts are  ‘like’ IRAs once the beneficiary attains age 18, they are different, and there are five different ways contributions can be made to a Trump Account.

A successor beneficiary always steps-into-the-shoes‘ of the designated beneficiary of an inherited IRA, but with one narrow exception.