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A Domestic Asset Protection Trust (DAPT) provides an opportunity to protect your assets from the claims of third-party creditors, which makes it a powerful tool to enhance your estate plan. Because DAPTs require giving up some control over your assets, they are not right for everyone. But they can provide protection for individuals in careers with high risk exposure or those looking for a prenuptial agreement alternative.

The role of the tax function is changing. Digitization is shrinking the globe and making everything more connected. Tax regulation and legislative changes are requiring companies to have processes and systems in place in order to comply. Today’s tax professional is charged with advising senior management on the tax implications of strategic business decisions while simultaneously leading initiatives to directly support the organization’s financial objectives and help facilitate growth. Demands on tax professionals have never been higher.

Many early-retirement Boomers feel comfortable that their estate plan is in order, having put their estate plan in place when they had younger children. With adult children, and the increase in the estate and gift tax exemption amounts, many feel that there is little planning to be done. However, upon review, there are plans that may need adjusting due to the recent changes in tax laws. Specifically, those plans with the AB Trust/Bypass trust structure.

It's clear that tax reform is just one manifestation of the changes happening across the tax function. What was once a relatively routine field now faces shifting regulations and compliance issues both at home and abroad. The role of the tax professional is changing from numbers-cruncher to strategic leader, and adept tax professionals in 2019 and beyond will need to prioritize adaptability, process efficiency, data analysis, and effective communication around total tax liability to maximize their impact.

When it comes to updating your estate plan, it’s more than just document preparation. It’s also about updating and distributing your health care documents, preparing your agent to conduct business on your behalf at the appropriate time, and reviewing asset titling and beneficiary designations.

An increasingly popular way to reduce taxes generally is to invest in Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs), but little is discussed about how QOZs can be utilized to shift appreciation of wealth over time to future generations. Investors have various options to transfer interests in QOZs to future generations tax efficiently. With this new opportunity available, there are a few items to evaluate: What is the value of the QOZ over time? Why would you transfer the QOZ interest? What are things to be aware of when making this decision?

Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ) offer taxable investors the potential for deferral of existing gains and tax-free growth. Though the basic provisions of the tax incentive are known, the rules remain unclear and regulatory risks persist. While the existence of a tax incentive can make a good investment even better, investment decisions should not be primarily driven by tax considerations.

Generation Z and millennial entrepreneurs are known for being innovative, bold, quick-thinking game changers. But too often they ignore the more mundane (but incredibly important) aspects of their personal financial situations and decisions regarding the fate of their business. By investing some of the passion and energy they have for their businesses into estate and financial planning, Generation Z and millennial entrepreneurs can help set themselves, and their businesses, up for long-term success.

Over the past decade, matriarchs and patriarchs of successful families have been shifting their focus from their children to a broader group of individuals, such as grandchildren, siblings, and nieces. Often, they choose to create family banks, which are typically trusts that are funded to help individuals pursue entrepreneurial opportunities, venture philanthropy, and knowledge in a structured and more-likely-to-succeed manner. Family banks can be customized to fit a family’s agenda, and the risks inherent in family banks can be thoughtfully managed.

This recorded webinar Illustrates how effective annual income tax rates for a C corporation differs, depending on whether it distributes all, part, or none of its annual earnings. This provides a more realistic base against which to compare one's tax rates as an owner of a pass-through business entity, such as an S corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship (the latter two which may be LLCs).