Preservation | Family Wealth Protection & Planning

This is the eighth installment in a blog series on opportunities for tax planning in the current low-interest rate environment. Read our previous installments here.

A Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT) is a type of trust that provides an opportunity for the grantor of the trust to utilize his or her remaining estate and gift tax exemption while also allowing the grantor’s spouse to benefit from the assets transferred.

This is the sixth installment in a blog series on opportunities for tax planning in the current low-interest rate environment. Read our previous installments here. The next post will conclude the series with a discussion of charitable giving.

This is the fifth installment in a blog series on opportunities for tax planning in the current low-interest rate environment. Read our previous installments here. Future installments will cover installment sales to defective grantor trusts and charitable giving.

This is the fourth installment in a blog series on opportunities for tax planning in the current low-interest rate environment. Read our previous installments here. Future installments will cover family limited partnerships and limited liability companies, installment sales to defective grantor trusts, and charitable giving.

This is the third installment in a seven-part blog series on opportunities for tax planning in the current low-interest rate environment. Read our previous installments here. Future installments will cover creating Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts, family limited partnerships and limited liability companies, installment sales to defective grantor trusts, and charitable giving.

This is the second installment in a blog series on opportunities for tax planning in the current low-interest rate environment. Read our overview in Part 1 here. Future installments will cover making or refinancing loans, creating Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts, family limited partnerships and limited liability companies, installment sales to defective grantor trusts, and charitable giving.

This is the first in a blog series on opportunities for tax planning in the current uncertain, low-interest rate environment. Future installments will cover one-time and annual gifting, making or refinancing loans, creating Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts, family limited partnerships and limited liability companies, installment sales to defective grantor trusts, and charitable giving.

The Internal Revenue Service recently published its annual inflation-adjusted figures for 2020 for estate and trust income tax brackets, as well as the exemption amounts for estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes. These figures are adjusted annually for cost-of-living increases.

Below is a summary of the 2020 figures. The original news release from the IRS may be found here.

As the cost of college education has skyrocketed, more and more grandparents are wondering how they can help their grandchildren pay for college. Below is an overview of five ways in which grandparents can contribute toward a grandchild’s education, as well as tips on pitfalls to avoid.

With the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in December 2017, the nearly doubling of the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption (currently $11.4 million in 2019) shifted the focus for many from estate tax planning to income tax planning. A wide range of income tax planning techniques can now be used under the TCJA, and it is important to explore these income tax planning techniques as a part of the estate planning process.