Adler & Adler Blog

As relayed by the staff at the New York County Surrogate’s Court: As part of the measures adopted by the NYS Unified Court System to combat the spread of COVID-19, the following actions are being implemented by the New York County Surrogate’s Court effective April 13, 2020: At this time, the court is addressing all…

The laws in New York formerly required people to be in the same room to sign or witness documents like wills, trusts and powers of attorney. On March 7th Governor Cuomo issued an expanded emergency order that enables us to get documents signed, witnessed and notarized 100% by video conference. No need for anyone to…

Internal Revenue Code Section 6166(a)(1) provides that an executor may elect to pay all or a portion of the estate tax attributable to a closely held business in two (2) or more equal annual installments (no more than 10 annual installments are allowed). Requirements to qualify: An interest in a closely held business is defined…

Stimulus Payments: Up to $1,200 per person ($2,400 married joint) and $500 per child under 17. Eligibility is based on 2019 tax filing (2018 if not filed 2019). Tax Payment Due Dates: 2019 income tax returns and respective payments are due July 15, 2020. There is no cap on the amount of payments that can…

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued Executive Order 202.7, which temporarily suspends the rule requiring physical appearance before a notary public until April 18, 2020. Key points of the executive order:

A spendthrift, of course, is a person who spends without regard to thrift. (When the word was coined, one meaning of “thrift” was “wealth,” so a spendthrift was originally one who spent his wealth.) Ordinarily, the interest held by a beneficiary in a trust is something a spendthrift can spend—an asset of the beneficiary, having…

Under the so-called three year rule, if an insured person transfers an insurance policy to an irrevocable life insurance trust, even though the insured may no longer retain any incidents of ownership, if he dies within the three year period following the transfer, the entire policy proceeds will be includable in the insured’s gross estate,…

When a partnership is formed partners contribute property and/or cash into the partnership. The partners “capital account” keeps a record of these contributions. The capital account increases or decreases as a function of what the partner puts in or takes out of the partnership. For example, taking losses is treated as taking something out of…

Pretty much everything you own is a capital asset. Your home, your tangible personal property (like furnishings), and your stocks and bonds are all capital assets. When you sell a capital asset, the difference between the basis in the asset and the amount you realized from the sale is a capital gain or a capital…

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)…