With every new Presidential administration comes new policy priorities, few more anticipated (for good or ill) than tax policy. Major tax legislation passed in the last administration doubled the exclusion from federal estate tax from $5 million adjusted for inflation ($5.49 million per individual in 2017) to $10 million adjusted for inflation ($11.7 million per
Successor Planning
Retirement Plan Beneficiary Designations: The Secure Act of 2019
By Elizabeth Mullaugh on
Posted in Successor Planning, Tax
Way back before the dawn of the coronavirus, when a change in the tax rules seemed like a consequential thing, Congress made a pretty significant change that few people saw coming and which upended decades of accepted wisdom on tax planning with retirement plan funds.
Passed in the waning days of December 2019, and effective…
What happens to Great Aunt Edna’s Snap Account?: Estate Planning for Digital Assets
By Elizabeth Mullaugh on
Posted in Successor Planning
I don’t have a Great Aunt Edna and if I did, she probably wouldn’t have a Snap account but you, your parents and your children likely have Facebook accounts with cherished family photos and other digital memories. Our burgeoning online activity creates troves of so-called ‘digital’ assets, some of which may be every bit as…
Where there’s a Will . . . You still need to check those beneficiary designations.
By Elizabeth Mullaugh on
Posted in Successor Planning, Tax
Just completed your estate planning? Let’s be sure. You have a Will? Super. Powers of Attorney? Terrific. Living Will? Excellent. Now, have you checked the designations on your retirement plan? Life insurance? Health Savings Accounts?
While a Will remains a critical part of an estate plan, it doesn’t get the whole job done for most…
Changes to the Tax Code Impacting All Tax Partnerships
By Peter Kriete on
New audit rules put into place by the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) at the beginning of this year will have an impact on tax partnerships which may have significant ramifications for some dealers. Historically, many dealers put their dealership and real estate assets into entities that are taxed as “pass through” entities for tax…
The Power of Durable General Powers of Attorney – An Essential Estate Planning Tool for Dealers
By Elizabeth Mullaugh on
Posted in Successor Planning
Having recently advised clients in commercial transactions where one or more parties lacked legal capacity, we were reminded of the essential role of Durable General Powers of Attorney in an estate plan. Though none of us wants to think about ourselves or our older family members losing mental capacity, we have to accept that it…