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.
Before you name someone as an executor or a trustee in your will – or before you agree to be an executor or a trustee – it’s a good idea to review exactly what responsibilities are involved. These are serious jobs, and sometimes people don’t give enough thought to which person should be chosen. Often, people simply name a spouse, a child, or a family friend. This might seem like a logical choice, and the person
Ann Aldrich drafted her own will on an “E-Z Legal Form.” In Article III, entitled “Bequests,” just after the form’s pre-printed language “direct[ing] that after payment of all my just debts, my property be bequeathed in the manner following,” she hand wrote instructions directing that all of the following “possessions listed” go to her sister, Mary Jane Eaton. If Mary Jane were to predecease her, the possessions were to be distributed to her brother, James Aldrich.
In PLR 201132017, the IRS ruled in this case, the documentation submitted by Surviving Spouse strongly indicates that Decedent and Surviving Spouse did not intend to have any control over the assets held in the By-Pass Trust, and that the provision in Section 4.01 of Trust to charge Surviving Spouse’s debts, expenses and death taxes from the By-Pass Trust was the result of a scrivener’s error. In reforming the By-Pass Trust, Court found that the modification
The Appeals Court has held in Dickdow v US pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 6511(a), a taxpayer seeking such a refund must file his refund claim within three years of filing the tax return or within two years from the time the tax was paid, whichever is later. Furthermore, for taxpayers who claim a refund within three years of filing the return, § 6511(b)(2)(A) substantively limits the amount of any such refund to the portion of the
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