2023 continues the recent trend of an historically large federal unified exemption amount for bequests and lifetime gift-giving, and because of this significant change from earlier years, careful review of tax planning provisions in existing estate planning documents is warranted ‒ as well as consideration of lifetime gift planning.

   2021 continues to offer an historically large federal unified exemption amount for bequests and lifetime gift-giving in effect since 2018, and because of this significant change from earlier years, careful review of tax planning provisions in existing estate planning documents is warranted ‒ as well as consideration of lifetime gift planning.

2020 continues the recent trend of an historically large federal unified exemption amount for bequests and lifetime gift-giving, and because of this significant change from earlier years, careful review of tax planning provisions in existing estate planning documents is warranted ‒ as well as consideration of lifetime gift planning.

   Many U.S. citizens or residents own bank and other financial accounts located outside the United States for perfectly legitimate reasons, but some may be unintentionally running afoul of "money laundering" laws -- and risking stiff penalties -- by not annually reporting those accounts when the value exceeds $10,000.

   2019 continues the recent trend of an historically large federal unified exemption amount for bequests and lifetime gift-giving, and because of this significant change from earlier years, careful review of tax planning provisions in existing estate planning documents is warranted ‒ as well as consideration of lifetime gift planning.

The determination of who gets your 401(k) at your death depends on a combination of factors -- whom you intend as a beneficiary of your Plan is not always the same person as who is your Beneficiary.

2018 brings a large increase to the federal unified exemption amount for bequests and lifetime gift-giving, and this significant change warrants careful review of tax planning provisions in existing estate planning documents ‒ as well as consideration of lifetime gift planning.

Although an effective tool generally to avoid probate, a Right of Survivorship Feature in jointly owned assets can have unintended consequences.

While 2017 brings only incremental increases in the Federal exclusion amounts for bequests and lifetime gift-giving, the significant changes in, and uncertainty about, exclusion amounts over the past 5-10 years warrant careful review of tax planning provisions in older estate planning documents.

The manner in which assets are titled can have significant repercussions in terms of transfer at the owner’s death -- and potentially in other areas. With that in mind, you may wish to take a moment to check the title to your car; what you find may surprise you.

Recent increases in the Federal exclusion amounts for bequests and lifetime gift-giving warrant reviewing existing estate planning documents.

Setting up "Payable on Death" and "Transfer on Death" accounts warrants extreme caution, and in many cases, it may be better to forego such designations altogether.

   Reviewing Your Primary and Contingent Beneficiaries in Non-Probate Assets Can Make a Critical Difference Later.

   If you intend to make gifts to charities at your death, you might want to consider using your IRA or other tax-deferred retirement plan to do so as a means to enhance gifts to your beneficiaries.

Lifetime Gifting can be an Important Tool in Estate Planning

Identifying the proper "seller" on real estate sales documents can be challenging when the property belongs to someone who recently died.