For closely held family business owners who want their businesses to pass to the next generation, there are various estate-planning techniques that should help them avoid significant transfer tax costs. These range from simple gifts of family...
There comes a time in the life of many wealthy families when selling the family business seems like the right thing to do because no one in the younger generation is interested in taking over or selling means unlocking wealth that will catapult...
Owners of closely held businesses have traditionally used buy-sell agreements to restrict the transfer of interests in their businesses to unwanted third parties, and to establish the price and terms for purchases of interests in their businesses...
For decades, estate planning has been dominated by techniques designed to minimize a confiscatory federal estate tax. But higher exemption levels created by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA)1 have significantly...
Tax planning for estates took a hit in 2001 when the White House decided to repeal the estate tax in 2010. But business is back. As the debate drags on over whether to make that repeal permanent, advisors and investors are deciding it's better to...
Susan Sontag social commentator, critic, activist and acclaimed writer executed her last will and testament six months before she died on Dec. 28, 2004 at age 71. Her death, reportedly from complications of acute myelogenous leukemia, concluded a...
Special needs trusts (SNTs) trusts created for the benefit of a disabled beneficiary present exciting opportunities for corporate fiduciaries. They also risk sapping fiduciaries' time and emotional energy. Sometimes, the wisest choice is for a...
From David A. Handler of Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago we have this report on the latest development in the Tax Court's understanding of the Internal Revenue Code Section 2036(a): On March 15, the court issued a decision in Estate of Wayne C...
Planners have a challenge: They must find sophisticated, highly tax-efficient techniques that weave family values into financial plans but don't land clients in audit hell. Enter the health and education exclusion trust (HEET). This type of trust...
The 2001 tax reform act built uncertainty into the estate-planning process. Under the act, estate tax rates decrease until 2009. The estate tax disappears for one year in 2010. In 2011, the rates and exemptions revert to 2001 levels. Adding to the...
