Articles Posted in Estate Planning

The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) gave the Department of Treasury authority to collect information from United States persons who have financial interests in or signature authority over financial accounts maintained with financial institutions located outside of the United States. The BSA requires that a FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)…

Income Taxation of Life Insurance As a general principle, the proceeds of a life insurance policy paid by reason of the insured’s death are received income tax free by the beneficiary. This exclusion from income taxation applies regardless of whether the proceeds are paid to an individual, a partnership, corporation, or trust. Death benefit payments…

Life insurance is one of the most important tools in modern financial planning, but it is not always the most appreciated. It has a role to play in virtually all phases of the typical family’s economic life cycle. The purchase of life insurance is an important decision for you and your family. Your marital status,…

The SECURE Act, effective January 1, 2020, makes significant changes to the laws affecting IRA and 401(k) plans. Key items: You can now make IRA contributions beyond age 70½. Under the new law, you can continue to contribute to your traditional IRA past age 70½ as long as you are still working. Required minimum distributions…

There are various forms of business agreements available for disposing of a business interest at death. These agreements, typically referred to as buy-sell agreements, are an important planning technique for business owners. The particular type of buy-sell agreement used will depend upon many factors, such as the type of business operation involved, the number of…

One of the most common mistakes in estate planning is failing to pay attention to beneficiary designations on life insurance policies, IRAs and 401(k) plans. You may not accurately recall who you named as beneficiary or previous designations may be no longer reflect your wishes due to changed family circumstances. Have you taken your ex-spouse…

The recent history of estate tax legislation demonstrates that the issue has become captive to political interests. There is no reason to expect an end to this situation. In this state of uncertainty, attention must be directed to techniques that ensure successful estate planning whether the estate tax exemption is $3.5 MM, $11.58 MM, or…

While it’s heart wrenching to think about not being there to raise your children, imagine a court choosing their guardian without input from you. That’s why it’s important to nominate a guardian in your will while it’s still up to you. What is a guardian? This is the person who will be raising your children.…

A stock purchase agreement (commonly referred to as a buy sell agreement) is an arrangement for the disposition of stock in the event of certain contingencies such as death, disability, retirement or the withdrawal of a shareholder from the business. Stock purchase agreements are useful when: Stock purchase agreements commonly take the form of either…

The Confusion Surrounding Joint Bank Accounts in New York is epic. In their article The Confusion Surrounding Joint Bank Accounts in New York, the authors, Francine R.S. Lee and Elisa Shevlin Rizzo write: “The problems associated with joint bank accounts have their roots in the beginning of the last century, when, in 1907, New York…