Widows and widowers who are considering remarriage should be aware that a new federal tax law could potentially make a huge difference in how much of their assets they are able to leave to their heirs after taxes. In general, anyone who is considering remarriage later in life should talk to an estate planner first in order to avoid possible tax problems. But this new law gives added urgency to this rule, because it potentially could
Florida has a new law on powers of attorney. The law is important for anyone who recently moved to Florida, as well as anyone who lives elsewhere but owns a vacation home there or regularly spends time in the state. Florida will no longer accept powers of attorney unless they are signed by two witnesses and notarized. Also, powers must take effect immediately, rather than only if the person becomes incapacitated. Power of attorney documents that
People are sometimes concerned that after they die, a beneficiary (or more likely a non-beneficiary) will go to court to contest their will. Typically, a disgruntled would-be heir might claim that the person who made the will wasn’t mentally competent, or was under undue influence from some other person. These types of will contests can be very expensive, and they can cause a lot of emotional hardship within a family. Recently, a handful of states have
Some 22 states have a state estate tax or a state inheritance tax. These taxes are in addition to the federal tax. For some people, it’s possible to reduce or eliminate these state taxes by making gifts before the end of 2012. Ordinarily, you can give up to $13,000 each year to as many people as you like without paying gift tax. Through the end of 2012, you can also make total lifetime gifts in addition
And people with older wills should have them reviewed now, due to a new law from Congress A federal estate tax return doesn’t have to be filed every time someone dies. In fact, most estates never have to file one. In 2011 and 2012, a return has to be filed only if the person’s estate (including property, life insurance, taxable gifts, etc.) is worth $5 million or more. However, even if a return isn’t required, a
Revenue Rule 2011-28 concludes that an individual’s retention of the power, exercisable in a nonfiduciary capacity, to acquire an insurance policy on his life held by a trust he created by substituting other assets of equivalent value won’t cause the value of the policy to be includible in his gross estate under Code Sec. 2042. Beliveau Law Group: Massachusetts | Florida | New Hampshire The tax attorneys at the Beliveau Law Group provides legal services for
Sloan was the trustee for the Hemphill trust, created by a pour-over will, which provided income payments to the beneficiaries, the settlor’s children, until age 25 at which time their trust share could be distributed. In her capacity as trustee, Sloan listed trust property, Keysville Road Grove, for sale. She retained a real estate attorney and listed the property for $1.225M. The plaintiff beneficiary had
A Texas man put some ranch property into a trust. The trust was designed to pay regular income from the property to the man’s son. When the son died, the ranch was to go to his grandson. The trustee (a bank) entered into a long-term lease for the property. The result was that when the son died, the grandson didn’t get the ranch all to himself; instead, he inherited it subject to the lease, which meant
If you own land that you want to pass on to your heirs, but you also want to make sure that some historic, scenic, or agricultural value will be maintained and not destroyed by future development, you might be able to accomplish this with a “conservation easement”…and also save taxes at the same time. A conservation easement is a restriction on your land that says it can never be developed in certain ways. When you create
Did you know that your will does not determine who gets your IRA or your 401(k) account when you die? That’s right – these accounts are “non-probate” assets, which means they’re not covered by your will. Instead, they will generally go to whatever person you named as the beneficiary when you set up the account. Similarly, your will doesn’t determine who gets your life insurance – that will go to the named beneficiary on the policy.
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