Estate Planning

Subscribe to Estate Planning

As we wait to see if Congress can pass a tax bill, we now know that estate taxes for the very wealthy will not be repealed immediately or at all.  The House bill that was passed yesterday bumps the lifetime exemption to $10 million indexed for inflation and retains the estate tax through 2023.   The…

Proposed Valuation Discount Regulations Under Section 2704

This week the Treasury pulled proposed regulations under Code Section 2704 that would have virtually eliminated valuation discounts for family limited partnerships. https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2017/oct/treasury-will-pull-sec-2704-and-other-burdensome-rules-201717601.html

This was not surprise, as a prior blog post noted.  So there is a window that is wide open for discount planning, and this…

A recent Tax Court case, Estate of Minnie Lynn Sower, http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/UstcInOp/OpinionViewer.aspx?ID=11392, illustrates that, even though there is no estate due and a 706 return is filed to claim a deceased spouse’s unused exemption amount (“DSUE”) to preserve portability, care must still be exercised in preparing that return.

In Sower, the Tax Court re-examined the…

Texas has one of the most expansive homestead laws in the country.    Homestead designation protects the homeowner from creditors claims, other than certain taxes and loans secured with the homestead. This blog post will cover the types of Texas homesteads, and who benefits from homestead designation.

Types of Homesteads

There are two types of homesteads,…

The probate question I get asked the most often is whether a client should use a living trust to avoid probate.  In many states the answer is an unqualified “yes.”  In Texas, the answer is “it depends, but probably not.”

A living trust is a revocable trust to which the client will transfer his or…

Earlier in the year the Treasury announced that it would undertake a review of regulations issued since January 1, 2016.  Recently, in Notice 2017-38, the Treasury identified eight regulations for burden reduction, including the controversial proposed regulations under Internal Revenue Code 2704.  Those proposed regulations would have severely restricted the use of valuation discounts in…

As we watch Congress for clarity on tax reform, I am reminded of the Tom Petty song “The Waiting.”   Many clients are frozen, unwilling to do any planning.  However, the fact is tax law changes all of the time, and any “reform” today may be gone tomorrow.  Life and death go on.  The real reasons…

There are three basic types of intellectual property (IP): copyrights, trademarks and patents.   Copyrights do not protect ideas, but do protect the way those ideas are expressed.  Trademarks protect logos, slogans or other ways a business is identified.  Patents protect inventions.

IP presents unique challenges for estate and business planning.  It is a difficult asset…