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Three Documents You Must Have to Protect Your Family During the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond

By: Melody B. Lynch & Brian Lawrence

Naturally, COVID-19 has led to a large degree of uncertainty, which emphasizes the importance of having your estate plan in place – or establishing one if you have not done so already. While it is impossible to prepare for every possible contingency, there are ways to give yourself some peace of mind.

Here are three essential legal documents to execute during this crisis to help protect you and your family going forward: read more

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IRS Proposes Regulations to Limit Strategy to Avoid Estate Tax

By Jason Palmisano

The IRS has issued a notice of proposed regulations to limit the valuation discounts individuals have been afforded when they engage in certain types of intra-family transfers involving their family owned corporation or family partnership. 

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if ($(window).outerWidth() Under the proposed regulations, the valuation discount — sometimes up to 40% — that is given for the transfer of assets that have limited liquidation rights would not apply for “deathbed” transactions, only to transfers that occur more than three years before the transferor’s death.  While the proposed regulations are very specific, <!-- -->

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if ($(window).outerWidth() the restriction on the valuation approach could apply to the inheritance of most family businesses.  You can read more about the proposed rules the IRS wants to implement in the Wall Street Journal.

 

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Estate Planning for Non-U.S. Citizens

by Matt O’Kane and Jason Palmisano

The laws governing the U.S. estate and gift tax system are complex.  For Non-U.S. Citizens, the U.S. estate and gift tax system is more onerous and requires a much higher degree of awareness.   We recently hosted a seminar discussing several issues Non-U.S. Citizens face in transferring their asset to their loved ones and providing strategies to minimize U.S. transfer taxes, including:

  • Basic Gift and Estate U.S. Transfer Tax Rules
  • Planning Strategies During Life to Minimize U.S. Transfer Tax
  • Planning Strategies to Incorporate Into an Estate Plan to Minimize U.S. Estate Tax at Death

    • read more

    Posted on

    End of life care…who cares?

    By Julia Frey.  When meeting with people to discuss estate planning for themselves and their families, often some of the hardest discussions are about “end of life”.   Now, we all hope that at our end of life we will go without any health concerns, without any lingering illnesses etc. but we just don’t know.  I recently read some statistics posted by “The Conversation Project” that stated that 90% of people think it is important to talk with their loved ones about their own wishes for end of life care —- but only 30% of people have actually had those discussions.  Similarly, 82% of people believe that they should put their wishes in writing — but only 23% have actually signed documents that deal with end of life care.  You don’t want to leave these decisions to chance, or to the government or to health care professionals who don’t know what you would have wanted.  So, I urge you to talk to your estate planning attorney and get your life-time documents (which include your end of life documents) in place.  I also urge you to talk to your parents and encourage them to do the same.  Take a look at www.theconversationproject.org as well and see if that helps you get the conversation started.

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    Who should you trust to be the trustee?

    By Julia L. Frey.   One of the most important decisions one can make when setting up a trust for a child or other loved one is determining who to name as the trustee.  It is a job (not a cake-walk) that requires dilegence, an understanding of the fiduciary responsibilities and an understanding of what the grantor’s intent is for distributions under the Trust.  Over the years I have seen family members or friends named as trustees who have not understood the depth of their role or were not capable.   In one case, a family came to me after a family member stole all of the trust money to feed his drug habit, leaving the beneficiaries without any recourse as he had no means to repay the stolen funds.  Corporate trustees or co-trustees are often the answer to avoid such problems.  A just read a recent article in Worth Magazine by Patrick Kenefick with Neuberger Berman that was right on point so I commend it to you for your reading.  http://worth.com/index.php?option=com_advisors&id=2005&view=single