Articles Posted in Wills

In general terms, Internal Revenue Code Section (“I.R.C. §”) 2036 requires the inclusion in the gross estate of property which the decedent, while living, had transferred as a gift (i.e., without adequate and full consideration in money or money’s worth), but in which he retained for himself a beneficial interest to last for the rest…

If one of the social purposes of taxing wealth per se is to prevent massive accumulations within families, this theoretically could be accomplished through a tax on net worth which could be imposed periodically, without regard to the death of the property owner or the passage of the property to others. However, the U.S. system…

In order to elect portability of the decedent’s unused exclusion amount (deceased spousal unused exclusion (DSUE) amount) for the benefit of the surviving spouse, the estate’s representative must file an estate tax return (Form 706) and the return must be filed timely. The due date of the estate tax return is nine months after the…

How can tax planners and their clients meaningfully plan for a tax that may or may not be in place, in presently definable form, in the year that an individual eventually dies? Planners are faced with a quandary of multiple potential tax scenarios. Now that the estate tax has become a political football, with diminished…

The insured buy-sell agreement is a good solution to the problem of close corporation management continuity. No other plan carries with it the same degree of assurance that the purposes of the plan will be achieved. The plan is simplicity itself. Under it, the stockholders enter into a binding buy-sell agreement among themselves. They contract…

A will is a legal document that sets forth your wishes regarding the distribution of your property and the care of your minor children after your death. If you’re like millions of Americans, a will is among the most important legal documents that you will ever sign. When you create a will, you will be…

A trust is a device for the management of property where one person, the grantor (sometimes called the settler, trustor or trust maker), transfers property to another person (or a bank or trust company), the trustee, for the benefit of the trust beneficiary. A trust exists when a grantor transfers the legal title to the…

Artists and collectors face unique estate planning considerations. Artists and collectors should keep a comprehensive inventory of their works with detailed information about each work. A useful inventory lists the name of each work and the date it was created and fixed in a tangible medium. The medium, the dimensions, and any historical information should…

Usually, when a taxpayer transfers assets to an irrevocable trust for the benefit of another person, the transferor pays gift tax on the full value of the property transferred to the trust. However, in some cases, the value of an interest in the trust that is retained by the transferor (the “grantor”) may be subtracted…

A qualified disclaimer is an irrevocable and unqualified refusal to accept an interest in property. Because the system of wealth transfer taxation in the United States (i.e., the federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax) operates to impose a tax on the privilege of transferring property, the punch-line about disclaimers, for purposes of those wealth…