Wealth Planning

For higher-net-worth clients who are likely to owe federal estate taxes at death, making taxable gifts in 2010 may be a viable planning opportunity. That’s even if future legislation increases the estate tax exemption to proposed levels of ...

With President Obama and congressional Republicans at loggerheads over tax cut extensions for the wealthy next year, some financial advisors say they are planning for the worst.

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

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

The world of life insurance presents what feels like a never-ending array of products and choices. One of these emerging product structures, indexed universal life insurance (indexed UL), may be heavily marketed to your high-net-worth clients...

You own individual retirement account and non-IRA assets. You want a certain amount of your estate to pass to charity, and you want the charitable gift to be as tax efficient as possible to maximize the balance that will pass to your children (or...

Four recent court decisions shed some new light on certain situations clients may encounter in dealing with creditors' claims on individual retirement accounts and employer sponsored tax-qualified retirement benefits. Three of those were...

Beginning in 2010, individuals are allowed to convert or roll over certain distributions from retirement plans and IRAs to Roth IRAs regardless of their modified adjusted gross income. Complex rules apply. Here are some key points about how the...