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Is philanthropy one of your top priorities? One way to make your estate plan more philanthropic is through a Charitable Remainder Trust (sometimes called a CRT, CRUT, or CRAT, depending on the form it takes). The Trust is created until the end of the trust term or the death of the last beneficiary. At the end of the trust, whatever is left over (th...

Families with complex assets, such as family businesses, as well as those who have portfolios managed by multiple advisors, may find trustees reluctant to administer their trusts. This is because, in many states, the trustees remain liable for the actions of delegated third-parties or even named advisors. Delaware directed trusts can alleviate this...

The U.S. Supreme Court will revisit state tax nexus for the second year in a row after granting North Carolina’s petition for certiorari in North Carolina Department of Revenue v. The Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust (Docket No. 18-457). Kaestner and Fielding could have significant implications on the state taxation of trusts. All multista...

Irrevocable trusts have been part of estate planning for years. They have been used for a variety of purposes, such as to remove assets from a person’s estate in order to reduce taxes, to protect assets from creditors, and to provide management of assets for beneficiaries. However, many do not like the idea that the trust is irrevo...

The creation of a charitable remainder trust can provide you with a lifetime income stream while helping fulfill legacy goals of supporting charitable organizations that are important to you. There are two kinds, which are minor variations of each other: the Charitable Remainder Annuity (CRAT) and the Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT).

Individuals with disabilities and their families have many options to set aside funds without jeopardizing eligibility for means-tested government benefits, but most of the options require the person with a disability to lose control over his or her own money. With the Stephen J. Beck Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, people with disab...

For companies doing business in multiple states, determining state tax responsibilities has always been a challenge. However, 2018 was a notably busy year. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) brought federal legislation that left states needing to react quickly, and with tax reform 2.0 looming, the challenges are not over. In our state tax recap, we e...

The passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in 2017 overhauled several cornerstones of the Internal Revenue Code and introduced new tax law, including section 1400Z-1 and section 1400Z-2 which address the qualified opportunity zones (QOZs). The business community, specifically real estate investors, has viewed the QOZ as a possible turbocharged...

Investments into qualified Opportunity Zone Funds offer attractive tax benefits, while catalyzing capital inflows into economically distressed communities. However, prudence is necessary in evaluating these investment opportunities as they come to market. The tax benefits will not outweigh the negative consequences of a bad investment. While the pr...

After looking at the potential pitfalls in Part 1 of this multipart series on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, we turn to Part 2: the Income Tax Opportunities. Regardless of your net worth, the temporary increase in the federal tax exemption has made possible certain strategies that could significantly reduce capital gains tax and allow...

The new year brings new tax-savings opportunities, including larger tax exemptions and exclusions. Here are some strategies and tips to consider in your tax planning this year, as well as the Federal Estate and Gift Tax Exemption/Exclusion Levels for Individuals and 2019 Federal Income Tax Brackets charts.

Taxpayers who have identified opportunities to take advantage of the increased gift tax exemption before 2026, but have been hesitant to do so because of the risk of clawback, now find themselves on firmer ground for moving forward with those plans. However, with all of the ways and means of using the exemption, what should they do ... and why? We ...

For insights on integrated wealth planning, this issue of The Advisor presents a view from the top with Joe Kahn, The New York Times Managing Editor, the impact of globalization 2.0, and the U.S. presidential election 2016 and the candidates’ tax platforms. Also in this issue are the best practices in providing age-appropriate transparency wh...

Asset protection follows the continuum of life’s events, reflecting the changes that individuals, families, careers, businesses and wealth undergo. Within the wealth spectrum, a simple way of thinking about asset protection strategies is from lower risk and simpler tactics to higher risk and more complex and sophisticated tactics. This approa...

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is in full swing. Non-US financial institutions have completed reporting of US account holders for tax year 2014 and will soon begin compiling for their 2015 FATCA reports. Just as international families and their advisers are getting used to myriad requests for FATCA Form W-8 certification forms, more...