Basis Step-Up

Do assets in an irrevocable grantor trust that are not included in the settlor’s estate qualify for an income tax basis step up on the death of the grantor? In 2002, Jonathan Blattmachr and Professor Mitchell Gans authored an article…

This video clip discusses possible changes to Grantor Trust Planning.

This article examines the issues (good and bad) related to making an affirmative Code section 754 election to adjust the basis of assets held inside a partnership when a partnership interest is included in a decedent’s estate.  The…

Creating trusts for estate planning and Medicaid planning is an essential tool for every estate planning and elder law attorney. However, any time a trust is created, there are income tax consequences that could be both unexpected and…

This presentation will cover the use and operation of joint revocable trusts in general, for both taxable and non-taxable estates, and will also examine the Alaska Community Property Trust, and explain why it’s a relatively simple thing to…

For decades, the primary focus of estate planning lectures and publications was about preserving the maximum value of an estate, primarily through estate tax planning.

We all know the impossible has happened: no estate tax, no generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax and no “step-up” in basis for those who die this year. Many thought and continue to think Congress will do what many of its most prominent…

The importance of elder law planning has grown as the costs of long-term health care continue to spiral out of control and insurance companies continue to cover fewer and fewer of these needs. Failure to plan ahead may mean the loss of…

2009 will represent a watershed year for estate planners and their clients due to the increase in estate and generation-skipping tax exemptions to $3,500,000.

In the 2001 Tax Act (known as EGTRRA), many changes were made to the estate tax system including increasing the exemption for this year to $3.5 million, lowering the top rate to 45%, eliminating the state death tax credit and culminating in…