Take-Away: If a retirement plan participant wishes to name an individual who is not their spouse as the beneficiary of their retirement account balance on death, the participant’s spouse must consent (‘waive’) their right to be named as the participant’s retirement plan account beneficiary. However, this spousal ‘waiver’ rule does not apply  to an IRA […]

Take-Away:  A IRA’s investment losses cannot be claimed by the IRA owner on his or her personal income tax return. Background:  IRAs are generally tax-exempt. IRC 408. But some self-directed IRAs can also produce taxable (not tax deferred) income on which a current income tax will be owed. IRA Taxable Income: An IRA can be […]

Take-Away: As we near the end of the calendar year, it is a pretty good guess that there will be a lot of discussions with regard to charitable giving, and charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) in particular. With the run- up in the stock market this year, many investors are sitting on appreciated stock portfolios who […]

Take-Away: Since a week has passed, commentators have now had an opportunity to study the sketchy Tax Reform Proposal that was released last week. There are still many unanswered questions, and thus considerable speculation about what a new Tax Code might look like, but it is possible to begin to identify some estate planning strategies […]

Caveat: This has nothing to do with Estate Planning, Taxes or Trusts. It has to do with our clients. Take-Away:  We often know when a client has a chronic or life-threatening illness who is about to undergo surgery, and/ or is facing an imminent hospitalization. Knowing at least some of the basics about patient safety […]

Take-Away: The simple message with regard to all IRA rollovers is probably to never do one. A failure to complete an IRA rollover in the mandatory 60 days produces draconian results for the IRA owner. Nor can an IRA owner make two rollovers within 365 days of one another, leading to taxation and penalties.  Consequently, […]

A few updates in probate and estate laws of interest follow: Portability is an Asset: The Oklahoma Supreme Court affirmed a probate court’s order that compelled a personal representative (the decedent’s son) to file a federal estate tax return and elect portability for the benefit of the decedent’s surviving husband (son’s step-father.) The Court observed […]

Take-Away: A spendthrift trust is the foundation for most asset protection planning strategies, including Michigan’s new Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act, aka Michigan’s asset protection trust. But there are both legal and practical limits on the scope of protection afforded by a trust’s spendthrift provision. Background: Legality: The Michigan Trust Code makes it clear that […]

Take-Away: Just because a trustee is removed, or resigns, does not mean that the trustee’s multiple fiduciary duties comes to an end. A trustee has continuing fiduciary responsibilities until the delivery of trust assets to the successor trustee. And on rare occasions, the departing trustee may continue to hold onto trust assets, despite the existence […]

Take-Away: As you counsel clients on their end-of-year gifting opportunities it is important to keep in mind some of the more sophisticated techniques when making those gifts and some deduction limitations. Background: A taxpayer can make annual exclusion gifts of present interests of up to $14,000 per donee this year; this amount is scheduled to […]