Senate Tax Bill - 500 Card Monty – Try to find the quarter!
Congress often boasts that they enact taxes reduction. What they mean is that they reduce tax rates. Taxes are calculated as (i)...
Senate Tax Bill - Estate Tax, Part II – The only thing that is certain is that certainty
In Part I of this blog, we reviewed the effect of the Senate-passed estate tax law changes, and how the new law would reduce estate tax...
Senate Tax Bill - Estate Tax, Part I – A Whole Lot o’ Nuttin’ (almost)
Although the Senate and House versions of the sweeping 2017 tax law changes need to be reconciled prior to sending the bill to the...
The Basics - Estate Planning
Basics, that is, of asset titling. There's a whole lot more to the estate planning process, of course, but it is crucial to always keep...
We Meet Again - Property Settlements and Estates
Property division agreements in divorce proceedings often include provisions relating to life insurance, which can be used, for example,...
Residence and Domicile
It is widely known that many states do not impose estate tax. Here in the Northeast, it is common to hear someone say that she is a...
Mass Estate Tax on Non-Mass Real Estate
Historically, Massachusetts has subjected real estate located in a state with no estate tax (Florida, etc.) to estate tax in a...
Renew, Refresh (but not Reuse)
I don't know the exact statistics regarding how many of us ever execute a Will, but it's alarmingly low. Perhaps a secondary effect is...
Reclamation Project
Prior to IRS recognition of same sex marriages for federal tax purposes, a transfer (by gift or inheritance) from one same-sex spouse to...
New IRS Regulations on transfers of family business
For many years now, owners of closely-held corporations or partnerships have been able - with bona fide business purpose - to structure...