One of the main reasons our clients get involved in estate planning is to provide loved ones with protection from claims of future creditors, and “predators” such as divorcing spouses or lawsuits. If you leave your property to your child as an outright distribution, the property will not be protected from these things, but by…
A Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT – pronounced “Q-Pert”) is a trust that holds a personal residence for a term of years, allowing you, in effect, to give away your residence at a discount and “freeze” its value for federal estate tax purposes – all while continuing to live in it. Each person can set…
A married couple has special planning challenges if one spouse is not a citizen of the United States. Federal estate tax law requires that a spouse be a U.S. citizen in order to qualify for the unlimited marital deduction. The primary reason for this law is that the IRS does not want a surviving non-citizen…
You can select an individual as a Trustee, such as a close friend or family member; or a professional Trustee can be selected such as an attorney or CPA; or you may choose a financial institution or a bank. A good Trustee should be someone who is honest and trustworthy, because they will have a…
Last week, the IRS announced it will recognize same sex marriages for all federal tax purposes, regardless of where the couple lives (or dies). In other words, if a gay or lesbian couple is legally married and move to or returns to a state that does not recognize same sex marriage, they will still be…
Trustees are those individuals (family members, attorney, or CPA for example) or entities (such as a bank trust department) named in a trust agreement to administer the trust. Trustees are required to manage and invest trust property and to distribute the trust property to certain individuals (the beneficiaries) based upon the instructions contained in the…