Charitable lead annuity trusts (CLATs) have received considerable attention recently, in light of current low interest rates. If structured correctly, CLATs have the twin benefits of (1) providing payments to charity for a number of years, and (2)...

Tax Court holds decedent's participation in family business doesn't amount to ownership In Estate of Fortunato v. Comm'r, T.C. Memo 2010-105 (May 12, 2010), the Tax Court held that Robert Fortunato, who had previously been convicted of robbery and...

Like you, I always knew non-tax issues in estate planning were important. But I never realized how important. With the chaos in 2010 on the tax side of estate planning and the virtual inability to offer certainty, coupled with the high cost of...

Tax Court holds that the discount for the tax on built-in gains should take into account both future appreciation on property and the present value discount for the projected capital gains tax In Estate of Jensen v. Comm'r, T.C. Memo 2010-182 (Aug...

Two rulings uphold Hackl v. Comm'r, confirming that gifts of interests in closely held companies don't qualify for the annual exclusion In Price v. Comm'r, T.C. Memo 2010-2, the Tax Court refused to reconsider its holding in Hackl v. Comm'r, 118 T...

IRS notice extends full deduction of bundled fiduciary fees pending IRS regulations Notice 2010-32 (April 1, 2010) granted fiduciaries yet another reprieve from dealing with the ramifications of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Knight v. Comm...

Second Circuit vacates Tax Court's determination on inclusion of transferred interest in real estate under IRC Section 2036 In Estate of Stewart v. Comm'r, No. 07-5370 (2d. Cir. Aug. 9, 2010), the majority of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the...

Sixth Circuit upholds constructive addition generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax regulations In Estate of Timken, 105 A.F.T.R. 2010-1347 (April 2, 2010), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the constructive addition...

IRS ignores trust amendment designed to create designated beneficiary PLR 201021038 (May 28, 2010) shows the importance of careful drafting for a trust designated as the beneficiary of a retirement plan. In this ruling, a husband named the bypass...

2010 was one of the most interesting years for estate-planning practitioners. In the first half of the year, we waited for Congress to pass a bill that would re-enact the estate and generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes that lapsed on Dec. 31...