Category Archives: Estate Planning

The Washington Report: – Wealth Transfer Edition

“Although high net worth clients under the $50 million threshold (HNW clients) may continue to implement planning, we’re seeing some hesitancy now, since they have less total gifting capacity than UHNW clients and greater concerns about giving away too much. Many HNW clients prioritize control and flexibility, often viewed by them as the ability to “undo” planning if circumstances or laws change.”

To read the full report, click here.

A basic, very good article by Lawrence D. Sprung.  Might it be a nice piece to forward and share with some of your clients?

• Estate planning isn’t about focusing on your demise; it’s about taking control and making decisions that ensure your loved ones are cared for.
• It’s a way to share your wishes and protect the people you care about most, leaving them a roadmap instead of unanswered questions.
• Without a will and a plan, state intestacy laws determine what happens to your hard-earned assets.

The full article can be found by clicking here.

From an excellent WSJ article by Ben Cohen interviewing Ron Shaich, billionaire entrepreneur; 

• “What can I do in the next three to five years that I will respect looking back from my deathbed?”
• “I imagine my body old and fragile, my breathing shallow, my life energy almost extinguished, he wrote in Know What Matters, his 2023 book.  I try to evoke the feeling I want to have in that moment – a sense of peace, completion and, most importantly, self-respect.  Then I ask myself:  What am I going to do now to ensure that when I reach that ultimate destination, I’ve done what I need to do?” 
• “I realized that the time to be having that review was not in the ninth inning with two outs.  It was in the seventh inning, the fifth inning and third inning.”

The most important question estate planners can ask their clients; If we (client, spouse, collaborative advisors) were gathered here today and you had died last night what would we be discussing?  The follow-up questions are situation and client specific.  The answers to the questions will help the advisors and the client to determine whether or not there are problems/issues that should be addressed today.  The degree to which the client is dissatisfied/unhappy with his/her current situation and the potential outcomes if premature death were to occur will determine how smoothly, quickly, and successfully the rest of the planning and implementation process moves forward.

I believe this is the most important question that we estate planners should ask every client now, not in the ninth inning with two outs.  It is the essence of what we do and, perhaps, the most productive thing we can do this year.

The WSJ article can be found by clicking here.

“Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, is the 10^th-richest person in the United States, worth $127 billion.  In theory, when he dies, his estate should pay 40 percent of his net worth to the government in taxes.  He is also the beneficiary of a series of tax dodges that will enable him to pass on much of his fortune tax free….The savings for his family are on a pace to be roughly $8 billion.  It likely ranks among the largest tax dodges in the United States.”

“’From an estate-tax-planning perspective, it’s a grand slam,’ said Jonathan Blattmachr, a prominent trusts and estates lawyer who reviewed Mr. Huang’s disclosures for The Times.  ’He’s done a magnificent job.’”

To read the full article, click here.

The Washington Report: – Wealth Transfer Edition

“The close of 2024 is the ideal time to initiate planning to maximize the remaining fruit of the TCJA, while beginning to position for a new, but familiar, landscape following the potential sunset. These approaches should work well regardless of the new tax environment. Clients looking for areas of impact should focus on (1) Roth conversions; (2) optimizing charitable deductions; and (3) acquiring life insurance.”

To read the full report click here.

The Washington Report: – Wealth Transfer Edition

“All trust jurisdictions are not created equal. Choosing the jurisdiction with the best laws for the successful family is critical. In this modern, mobile world, the residence of the settlor, beneficiaries, and fiduciaries must be monitored and managed to avoid unintended consequences.  Successful families, no matter their location, are beginning to think nationally when deciding where to establish their irrevocable trusts.”   

To read the full report, click here.

“High-end business partnerships like hedge funds and wealthy individuals such as real estate investors have inappropriately used labyrinthine structures to shield tens of billions of dollars from taxation, Treasury Department officials said Monday as they vowed to crack down on the practice. They announced several steps to address a tax planning strategy known as basis shifting, in which complex business partnerships can move assets from one entity to another on paper for no reason other than to avoid taxes.”

The Washington Post article which can be found by clicking here.

The Washington Report: – Wealth Transfer Edition

“Taxpayers should exercise caution in implementing ING trusts, particularly in light of California’s new law, which is effective retroactively.  While the ING trust remains a viable wealth preservation strategy in many states, it is unclear how long this will continue.  Taxpayers who implement this strategy are well advised to craft an exit strategy as well.”

Click here to read the full report.

The Washington Report: – Wealth Transfer Edition

“Valuation appears to be trending within the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) these days: insurance policy valuations, CCAs regarding GRATs, charitable planning targeted, and now the Connelly case.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit found that the value of life insurance proceeds funding a redemption buy-sell agreement should be included in the value of a closely-held business for estate tax purposes, changing conventional thinking.  Business owners should consider a cadence of regularly reviewing their buy-sell agreements. These are living, breathing documents. If their buy-sell agreement happens to be a redemption agreement, the economics should be reviewed assuming the same treatment as the Connelly case. It may be that these buy-sell agreements are woefully underfunded, triggering an audit of their life insurance plans. And if the owner has an agreement in place, they should follow it to the letter, not set-it-and-forget-it.”

To read the full report, click here.

The Washington Report: – Wealth Transfer Edition

“Abusive taxpayer transactions simply continue to raise the ire of the IRS. Commonly seen as a very conservative planning technique, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has recently taken extreme positions to challenge the use of grantor retained annuity trusts (“GRATs”).  The IRS in a recent CCA takes the position that by undervaluing the assets transferred to a GRAT, the GRAT annuity interest is not a “qualified interest,” and therefore the entire transfer is a taxable gift. The IRS finds that the transferred interest can be undervalued to such an extent that it ceases to be a qualified interest under IRC § 2702.  While the CCA is not precedent, it is a clear indication of how the IRS may deal with perceived abusive (valuation) transactions. A softer touch could have permitted use of the self-adjustment regulations to correct the transaction. Instead, the IRS uses a hammer to address, in our view, bad taxpayer behavior. To avoid costly disputes with the IRS, when funding a GRAT or any irrevocable trust with hard-to-value assets, obtain a qualified appraisal as of the date of the transfer.”

Click here to read the full report.