A recent Tax Court Decision came across my desk the other day that acts as a reminder that making a spousal rollover of a decedent spouse’s IRA is sometimes not the ‘no brainer’ decision that clients and advisors often ascribe to it. In Susanne D. Oster Ozimkoski, T.C. Memo, 2016-228 (December 19, 2016) the Husband […]

Apparently Lauree has already fielded a question from a physician if he should  look at adopting a Michigan Qualified Dispositions in Trust, aka ‘asset protection trust?’  Lauree could have predicted my lawyer-like answer: “It depends.” My sense is that I would not immediately recommend an asset protection trust to a client unless I had already […]

It was recently suggested to me that members of the client centric team want to know a bit more about IRAs and the distribution rules associated with IRAs. In response to that inquiry, I thought I would begin a series of summaries over the next few weeks to address the IRA rules, admittedly  on a […]

Take-away: The immediate distribution of a large home after the owner’s death can become a burden on the heir who receives title to the home. Leaving one home to several beneficiaries is also problematic. Keeping a family home or cottage in continuing trust after the owner’s death for a period of time can accomplish several […]

Take-Away: Despite all the talk about the elimination of the federal estate tax, now is not the time for clients to terminate existing life insurance policies that they may have initially purchased for liquidity purposes to pay federal estate taxes. Several more benefits are associated with life insurance than just furnishing instant liquidity to pay […]

John D. Rockefeller:   “Control everything, own nothing!” Take-Away: Implicit in Mr. Rockefeller’s observation,  and intrinsic to trusts in general, is that limited control and beneficial enjoyment are desirable, while holding title is harmful. That is because holding title to an asset invites taxes and creditors.  One could make a strong argument that inherited assets held […]

Take-Away: Michigan’s decanting statutes may not be as limiting as initially believed to be the case, depending on the distribution language that is used in the irrevocable trust instrument. Context:  The name of the game is flexibility these days in drafting irrevocable trusts so that the trust can be modified in the future, especially for […]

Take-Away: We all know how important it is for our clients to have in place a Durable Power of Attorney for financial decision-making in anticipation of a future disability. It is important that the Durable Power of Attorney contains a specific delegation of powers to the principal’s agent. The law does not presume that a […]

Take-Away: An IRA Trust is a form instrument that is used by a large stock brokerage company to take title to a customer’s IRA which assures that only required minimum distributions (RMDs) are paid out to the IRA Trust beneficiaries (a conduit type of trust.) Some advantaged do exist if an IRA Trust is considered […]

Take-Away: There still might be a couple of planning opportunities available to clients if Congress decides to eliminate the stretch IRA rule. It might be a good idea to start some dialogue with clients at an early date to prepare them, and their plans, for the death of the stretch. Background: A few days ago […]