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...
Eliminating State Income Tax on Trusts
Income tax is - or should be - part of modern estate planning. This is one of a series of entries on this "hot" topic. State...
Second Estate Taxability
So much of estate planning has focused on protection of the "non-taxable threshold" - otherwise known as a "credit shelter trust". In...
Forced Filing
"Portability" of a decedent's unused federal estate tax exemption refers to the election to add the exemption of a "first to die" spouse...
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...
Pfannenstiehl for the Rest of Us
Assets are often held in trust for the trust beneficiary (as opposed to being distributed to the beneficiary) with the hope that trust...
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...
A federal estate tax return for all estates?
Congress had all good intent when they introduced the idea of rolling a decedent's unused federal estate tax exemption over to his or her...