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Life Insurance After ATRA 2015Life Insurance After ATRA 2015

Selecting and designing a wise investment policy

22 Min Read
Life Insurance After ATRA

In our April 2013 article for Trusts & Estates, “Life Insurance After ATRA,” we considered how the use of life insurance as a tool for both personal financial planning and estate planning might be affected by the significant changes introduced by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA). We began with some thoughts on how these changes might affect the most basic life insurance needs analysis, albeit for a higher income individual. We then considered things from both the accumulation and distribution perspectives. We noted that on one hand, ATRA and the 3.8 percent Medicare surtax on net investment income combine to form a strong headwind against accumulating an estate. On the other hand, ATRA’s $5 million exemption, indexed for i...

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About the Authors

Charles L. Ratner

Charles L. Ratner is a commentator on life insurance and estate planning based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Lawrence Brody

Senior Counsel, Harrison & Held, LLP

Lawrence Brody retired as an Adjunct Professor at Washington University School of Law, after fifty years of teaching Estate Planning and Drafting.  He is a visiting Adjunct Professor at the University of Miami Law School, teaching a course on Life Insurance.  Mr. Brody is the author or co-author of numerous articles and books on the use of life insurance in estate and employee benefit planning, including two BNA Tax Management Portfolios, two books for the National Underwriter Company, and a number of volumes in the ABA Insurance Counselor Series.

Mr. Brody is a frequent presenter for ALI-CLE estate planning programs, Society of Financial Professionals programs, major life insurance industry programs (including the MDRT, LIMRA, the Top of the Table, AALU and the International Forum), the Heckerling Institute, the Notre Dame Estate Planning Conference, the Southern Federal Tax Institute, the NYU Tax Institute, the NAEPC Annual Meeting, and regional and annual ACTEC conferences.

Mr. Brody is a member of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), an emeritus member of the Advisory Committee for the Philip E. Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (University of Miami School of Law), and a member of the Editorial Board of the Society of Financial Service Professionals CLU Journal.   Mr. Brody received the designation of Accredited Estate Planner by the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils and was one of ten individuals awarded its Distinguished Accredited Estate Planner designation in the initial class (2004).  He has been named in the Private Wealth Law Section of Chambers High Net Worth Guide. Mr. Brody was named a Distinguished Law Alumni by Washington University School of Law in 2012.