Announcements

Friday, May 11, 2012

Steve Oshins & the Hybrid Domestic Asset Protection Trust

Reproduced with Permission by and Courtesy of Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI).  For information about how to subscribe to LISI, click here.

“After approximately 15 years since the first DAPT legislation passed, not a single DAPT has been tested all the way through the court system.  Most likely this is because such a large supermajority believes that if tested the DAPT will work to protect its assets from a creditor of the settlor.  However, despite the very high likelihood of protection, if there is a way to increase the odds of success even more, then such a strategy should be utilized whenever possible.

The Hybrid Domestic Asset Protection Trust (“Hybrid DAPT”) is such a strategy, and it is very simple.  The Hybrid DAPT is like a regular DAPT except that the settlor isn’t an initial discretionary beneficiary of the trust, but can be added later.”

We close this week Steve Oshins’ commentary on a strategy he refers to as the “Hybrid Domestic Asset Protection Trust.”  According to Steve, the Hybrid DAPT puts the client in a significantly stronger position than with a traditional Domestic Asset Protection Trust.  As he explains below, this strategy can be used with both an incomplete gift version and a completed gift version of the Domestic Asset Protection Trust. 

Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) is a member of the Law Offices of Oshins & Associates, LLC in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Steve is a nationally known attorney who is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® and has been named one of the Top 100 Attorneys in Worth magazine.  He was inducted into the NAEPC Estate Planning Hall of Fame® in 2011.  He has written some of Nevada's most important estate planning and creditor protection laws, including the law making the charging order the exclusive remedy of a judgment creditor of a Nevada LLC and LP (in 2001, 2003 and 2011), the law changing the Nevada rule against perpetuities to 365 years (in 2005) and the law making Nevada the first and only state to allow a Restricted LLC and a Restricted LP creating larger valuation discounts than any other state allows (in 2009).  He is also the author of the Annual Domestic Asset Protection Rankings which you can download from our Free Resources page.  Steve can be reached at 702-341-6000, x2 or at soshins@oshins.com.  His law firm's web site is http://www.oshins.com. 

Before we get to Steve’s commentary, members should take note of the fact that a new 60 Second Planner by Bob Keebler was just posted to the LISI homepage. In his commentary, Bob reviews the May 4th opinion by the Ninth Circuit in Estate of Morgans, where the issue presented was whether Section 2035(b)’s gross-up rule applies in the case of a surviving spouse's deemed gift of a QTIP remainder. You don't need any special equipment to listen- just click on this link.

Now, here is Steve Oshins’ commentary:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Asset protection has become one of the hottest areas of law and has become the ideal complement to estate planning.  Consequently, the Domestic Asset Protection Trust (“DAPT”) has become one of the most popular asset protection tools in the planner’s toolbox.  As more states have enacted DAPT legislation, practitioners have started doing more DAPTs for their clients.

FACTS: After approximately 15 years since the first DAPT legislation passed, not a single DAPT has been tested all the way through the court system.  Most likely this is because such a large supermajority believes that if tested the DAPT will work to protect its assets from a creditor of the settlor.  However, despite the very high likelihood of protection, if there is a way to increase the odds of success even more, then such a strategy should be utilized whenever possible.

The Hybrid Domestic Asset Protection Trust

The Hybrid Domestic Asset Protection Trust (“Hybrid DAPT”) is a strategy that should increase the probability that the trust assets will be protected.  And it is very simple.  The Hybrid DAPT is just like a regular DAPT except that the settlor isn’t an initial discretionary beneficiary of the trust, but can be added later.  Thus, the trust is initially set up for the benefit of the settlor’s spouse and descendants, for example, but not for the settlor.  By not including the settlor as a beneficiary of the trust, the Hybrid DAPT is by definition a third-party trust and therefore almost certainly avoids the potential risk of uncertainty of a regular DAPT.

Especially where the settlor is married and has a strong, trusting relationship with his or her spouse, is there any good reason that the settler must have his or her name in the trust agreement as a beneficiary?  It is very simple to indirectly access the trust assets through the spouse.  And the trust agreement should define the “spouse” using a “floating spouse provision” that defines the spouse as the person the settlor is married to and living with from time to time.  This gives the settlor the ability to access the trust assets through a subsequent spouse in the event of a divorce or the death of the settlor’s spouse.

If the settlor has no spouse, then it becomes more difficult to access the assets.  However, since a good asset protection planner will be sure to leave sufficient wealth outside of the client’s asset protection trust, in most cases the settlor won’t have to work through this issue anytime soon.

If the Settlor Is Added as a Beneficiary

In case the settlor needs to be a discretionary beneficiary of the Hybrid DAPT sometime in the future (i.e., if the settlor has no spouse or child that will “share” a distribution with the settlor and the settlor now needs a distribution), the trust agreement provides that the trust protector or independent trustee can add additional beneficiaries, including the settlor.  However, if the settlor is added, then the Hybrid DAPT becomes a regular DAPT and thus risks that the law is still unsettled on DAPTs (even though most people believe that they work).

What happens if the settlor suspects that a creditor attack may be forthcoming?  Or what if the settlor is considering filing bankruptcy?  In either case, very far in advance of the problem occurring, the settlor would ask the trust protector or independent trustee to remove him or her as a discretionary beneficiary. 

§548(e) of the 2005 Bankruptcy Act

It is extremely unlikely that a DAPT settlor will file for bankruptcy, especially if the settlor has an “old and cold” DAPT that is past the applicable state’s statute of limitations period.  In fact, of the hundreds of DAPTs created by the author, not one of those clients has gone through bankruptcy. 

However, in maintaining the philosophy of this commentarythat it is important to build into the structure every safeguard available, it is interesting to note that the Hybrid DAPT most likely does not fit the definition required by §548(e) of the 2005 Bankruptcy Act that would otherwise potentially claw back the assets of a traditional DAPT.  The requirements of §548(e) are as follows:

(1) In addition to any transfer that the trustee may otherwise avoid, the trustee may avoid any transfer of an interest of the debtor in property that was made on or within 10 years before the date of the filing of the petition, if—

(A) such transfer was made to a self-settled trust or similar device;

(B) such transfer was by the debtor;

(C) the debtor is a beneficiary of such trust or similar device [emphasis added]; and

(D) the debtor made such transfer with actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud any entity to which the debtor was or became, on or after the date that such transfer was made, indebted.

Unless the settlor is added as a discretionary beneficiary of the Hybrid DAPT, Subsection (C) doesn’t apply.  Also, arguably Subsection (A) doesn’t apply either since the Hybrid DAPT isn’t a “self-settled trust or similar device” at the time the provisions are applied.

The Completed Gift Hybrid DAPT

Most DAPTs are designed as Incomplete Gift DAPTs where the sole objective is asset protection.  However, many DAPTs are designed as Completed Gift DAPTs where the settlor is a discretionary beneficiary of a trust designed with the following attributes: 

(i)                It’s a completed gift for gift tax purposes,

(ii)             The settlor is a discretionary beneficiary,

(iii)           The trust assets are protected from the settlor’s beneficiaries, and

(iv)           The trust assets are outside of the settlor’s estate for estate tax purposes at the settlor’s death.

The Completed Gift DAPT strategy was approved by the Service in PLR 200944002 where a resident of a DAPT jurisdiction established the DAPT using the laws of that DAPT jurisdiction. 

However, with respect to a resident of a non-DAPT jurisdiction, although most practitioners are comfortable that this strategy works, whether the trust assets are open to creditors of the settlor is still uncertain, since it is unclear which state law will apply for creditor purposes.  The DAPT will be includible in the settlor’s estate at death if the trust assets are open to the settlor’s creditors.  If this were the case, this would occur under IRC §2036(a)(1) since the settlor would be treated as retaining the ability to run up creditor debts which can be paid out of the trust at the settlor’s death. 

IRC § 2036(a)(1) provides that the value of the gross estate shall include the value of all property to the extent of any interest therein of which the decedent has at any time made a transfer (except in the case of a bona fide sale for an adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth), by trust or otherwise, under which the decedent has retained for life or for any period not ascertainable without reference to the decedent's death or for any period that does not in fact end before death the possession or enjoyment of, or the right to the income from, the property.

The Completed Gift DAPT reduces this risk significantly since the settlor isn’t a discretionary beneficiary of the trust and, thus, it isn’t a self-settled trust.  In an ideal scenario, the settlor will never need to be added as a discretionary beneficiary by the trust protector or independent trustee.  However, if the settlor does need to be added at a later date, since the Completed Gift Hybrid DAPT also gives the trust protector or independent trustee the power to remove beneficiaries, as long as the settlor is removed as a discretionary beneficiary more than three years prior to death, there is no estate tax inclusion since IRC §2035 (the three-year contemplation of death rule) won’t apply.

Down and Dirty

To this date, there is still no case law saying that a DAPT does or does not work to shield the assets from the creditors of a settlor who is a resident of a non-DAPT jurisdiction.  Although all the cases have settled, or the creditors have decided not to sue, the estate or asset protection planner must still consider how to plan if the law does go the wrong way.  Unfortunately, although there will ultimately be case law, whether good or bad, unless the case law goes through the appeal process and is ultimately decided by the highest court, we still won’t have any certainty.  So it is prudent to plan for this uncertainty.

If the settlor has set up a Hybrid DAPT, whether as an Incomplete Gift Hybrid DAPT or as a Completed Gift Hybrid DAPT, if the settlor wants to be sure to preserve a portion of the Hybrid DAPT’s assets if the settlor is being added in as a discretionary beneficiary, the trustee can split the Hybrid DAPT into two separate trusts and the trust protector or independent trustee can add the settlor as a discretionary beneficiary of only one of the two trusts so as not to taint the other trust.

For example, if there are $10 million of assets in the Hybrid DAPT, the trustee might divide the trust into two trusts – the “Clean Hybrid DAPT” which doesn’t include the settlor as a discretionary beneficiary and has $8 million of assets, and the “Dirty Hybrid DAPT” which includes the settlor as a discretionary beneficiary and has $2 million of assets.  Thus, the risk has been transferred away from the Clean Hybrid DAPT to the Dirty Hybrid DAPT (which, again, should be protected, but is potentially being sacrificed in the interests of not tainting the assets in the Clean Hybrid DAPT).  This is nothing more than a risk management decision.

COMMENT:

It is imperative that the asset protection planner create a plan with the highest probability of success.  In most cases, it is possible to significantly increase the protection by simply using a Hybrid DAPT rather than a traditional DAPT.  This commentary describes this structure, and also creates a further structure where the Hybrid DAPT can be divided into a Clean Hybrid DAPT and a Dirty Hybrid DAPT, so that even if the Dirty Hybrid DAPT is unsuccessful, it doesn’t taint the Clean Hybrid DAPT. 

HOPE THIS HELPS YOU HELP OTHERS MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE!

Steve Oshins

TECHNICAL EDITOR: DUNCAN OSBORNE

CITE AS: LISI Asset Protection Planning Newsletter #200 (May 10, 2012) at http://www.leimbergservices.com  Copyright 2012 Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI). Reproduction in Any Form or Forwarding to Any Person Prohibited – Without Express Permission.

CITES: PLR 200944002; Oshins & Keebler on Mortensen:  “No, the Sky Isn’t Falling for DAPTs!”, Asset Protection Newsletter #186 (Oct. 31, 2011); Battley v. Mortensen, Adv. D.Alaska, No. A09-90036-DMD, May 26, 2011 (Original Memorandum) and July 18, 2011 (Memorandum Denying Motion For Reconsideration).

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Sources: Leimberg Information Services & Steven J. Oshins, Esq.

Monday, May 07, 2012

Estate Planning for the Blended Family: The Intersection of the Head and the Heart

By L. Paul Hood, Jr., Esq. & Emily Bouchard

A prospective new client contacts you about working with him and his partner.  Within minutes you learn that they are unmarried with each having children from prior relationships as well as one of their own together.  Do you experience a thrill of excitement at having such a complex and fascinating potential couple to work with, or does this scenario strike fear in your heart?  If you’re like most of the estate planners we work with, fear would be your first response.  Are you aware that your prospective client is most likely afraid as well, but for different reasons?

In Estate Planning for the Blended Family (Self-Counsel Press 2012), we identify and discuss 11 fears that clients can have when it comes to the estate planning process.  These fears include everything from confronting fear of death, to fear of the estate planning process itself.  On the other side of the equation, the biggest concern for the estate planner (or should be if it’s not already) is the likelihood of conflict of interests within the blended family system.

The reality is that estate planners need to be able to manage their own emotions, as well as those of their clients, around these fears and potential conflicts.  It’s not enough to understand the intricacies of estate planning vehicles to avoid taxes and transfer assets efficiently – it’s also necessary to make sure you are addressing the core concerns (and yes, fears) that are part of the process.  These fears prevent people from doing estate planning, or cause them to procrastinate.  Fears lead to avoidance strategies that cause costly and unnecessary delays in estate planning.  More often than not, people tend to avoid the conversations that could move the process along smoothly due to a lack of awareness about how to have the conversations effectively. 

Estate planning for the blended family client can present some of the most challenging work that an estate planner ever does.  One of the reasons why this is so is that most professionals in the field of estate planning aren’t sufficiently trained or experienced in the “human side” of the process, which is the “heart” of estate planning.  Most attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors are trained in the “head” side of estate planning.  The key to successfully navigating the often treacherous waters of estate planning for the blended family is properly balancing the head and heart. 

On Tuesday, May 8th, the first in a series of three teleconferences on Blended Family Estate Planning will commence.  This 90-minute presentation will dive into the key issues of the initial consultation and successful engagement of couples with a blended family. Participants learn how to address emotionally charged issues and fears that keep the planning process from moving forward, as well has how to move when a client shuts you down or shuts you out.  Specifics related to property ownership and distribution will be addressed along with who should be considered for key fiduciary roles.   The training provides a comprehensive introduction to estate planning for the blended family, and in so doing, marries the “head” and the “heart” of estate planning. 

In the second session to be held on Tuesday, May 15th, attention is focused on the lifetime planning options that are available or advisable to blended family couples. 

And last, but certainly not least, in the final session to be held on Tuesday, May 22nd, the various issues that are attendant to testamentary estate planning for blended family clients are addressed, as well as some post-death administration issues.

To sign up for this timely and important series and to receive a complimentary copy of our book, which includes a CD with forms, visit www.ultimateestateplanner.com.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Emily or Paul at estateplanning@blended-families.com.  You can also contact The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. at 1-866-754-6477.

Emily Bouchard and L. Paul Hood, Jr. © 2012

Friday, April 27, 2012

Autism Awareness Month: Special Planning for the Future with Autistic Children

April is Autism Awareness Month and The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. has teamed up our fellow colleague, Thomas D. Begley, Jr. and the Begley Law Group, P.C., based out of New Jersey, to help spread awareness for this very special cause. 

A recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control shows a drastic increase in autism diagnoses. One in every 88 children in the United States is diagnosed with a form of autism spectrum disorder, an increase of 78% since 2002. Boys with autism continue to outnumber girls at a rate of 5 to 1.

Since this is such a prevalent disorder that touches so much of the population, it is necessary to ensure that safeguards are in place for your loved one affected by autism.

GUARDIANSHIPS

If, upon reaching age 18, an autistic individual has sufficient capacity, he or she can, and ought to, execute documents, including a will, living will, and powers of attorney. These documents will name a loved one to act as an agent, if necessary, regarding emergency medical decisions as well as routine financial and personal decisions.

For an individual with insufficient capacity, a guardianship will be necessary. Once a child turns 18, the parents no longer retain the legal right to make the decisions that they have been making up to that point. In many cases, the guardianship process can be simple for parents of children on the autism spectrum, but it is still essential in order to ensure that safeguards are in place for the child.

It is also important for parents of children with autism to make sure that their own wills name choices for a successor guardian for their child.

SPECIAL NEEDS TRUSTS

Most parents worry about the well-being of their children once both spouses have passed away. A parent's or grandparent's concern about their loved ones is especially well-founded for special needs children. Leaving an inheritance outright to a child with special needs will jeopardize his or her eligibility for governmental benefits. For example, in order to receive Medicaid benefits, an individual cannot have more than $2,000 of countable assets in his or her name.

In order to rectify this issue, parents and loved ones often establish a third party special needs trust, which is a mechanism through which funds can be made available in order to enhance quality of life while still allowing the child to remain on government benefits. A special needs trust supplements public benefits, such as Medicaid and SSI, without jeopardizing eligibility. The trustee has absolute discretion to expend funds from the trust to purchase things for your child that are not otherwise covered by Medicaid.

It is extremely important to inform relatives about the existence of this special needs trust. Grandparents and other relatives can make lifetime gifts or leave inheritances directly to the child's trust in order to make sure that benefits are preserved.

Even if you are not personally affected by autism, please join us at The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. and the Begley Law Group, P.C., along with millions of other advocates, to continue to spread awareness about autism spectrum disorders and the importance of looking at the special planning needed for these individuals.

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Source & Photo Credit: Begley Law Group, P.C., Susan M. Green, Esq.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

New Book Helps You Plan for and Protect Your Assets

Orange County, California (March 29, 2012) – There are few things in life more certain than death and taxes and perhaps, in today’s society, Law suits.  However, the fact is few people actually plan for them. 

In the New Book The Ladder of Success: An Asset Protection Planning Primer, Attorney Jeffrey R. Matsen (“Top 100 Attorneys in U.S.” Worth Magazine) has provided a straightforward and elementary description of what Asset Protection really is and demonstrates how it can be effectively implemented by taking various steps, like rungs on a ladder, to truly climb the ladder of success.

“The one constant over the many years of my practice and among the hundreds of different clients I have served is the imbalance of, on the one hand, their profound concern regarding Asset Protection, and on the other, their lack of understanding as to how to implement it,” says Attorney Matsen. “I have dedicated my career to assisting these clients in planning the fortification of their resources to ensure their financial security in the face of taxes, liability and creditor attacks.” 

The Ladder of Success: An Asset Protection Planning Primer explains:

• Why Plan?  The Need for Asset Protection
• The Limitations
• The Operating Business Entity
• Basic Estate Planning
• Bankruptcy Considerations, Exemptions and Marital Planning
• Liability Protective Entities for Investment Assets
• Domestic Asset Protection Trusts and Modular Planning Utilizing LLCs
• The Offshore Asset Protection Trust and the Modular Planning that Accompanies It
• Advanced Estate Planning Techniques
• Special Issues and Strategies for Physicians and Dentists
• Climbing the Ladder and Putting It All Together

Chock full of authoritative information about estate planning and asset protection, The Ladder of Success: An Asset Protection Planning Primer is one book every conscientious person should own.  “Nobody understands the nuances and practicalities of this area better than Jeff Matsen.  His unique ability of making issues clear for clients and their advisors is a gift.  This book is required reading for any layperson or professional who wants to learn more about asset protection and more importantly, take action,” says Bill Deitch, Leading Estate Planning Attorney, Chicago.

“Jeff Matsen is an expert to the experts in the asset protection field.  Those seeking asset protection often share common characteristics—such as wealth, business ownership, real estate ownership, considerable income and estate tax exposures, as well professional practice ownership—and I recommend they read Jeff’s book to protect their families,” states Joseph J. Strazzeri, Fellow, Southern California Institute; Co-founder, Laureate Center for Wealth Advisors. 

Tim Voorhees, JD, MBA President, Family Office Services;  Principal, Matsen Voorhees, Orange County, CA. explains “Because of Jeff’s broad, multi-disciplinary experience, he knows how to integrate protection from lawsuits with protection from taxes. Jeff’s ability to combine creditor protection with tax planning helps clients accumulate more wealth and maximize upside potential.” 

“Jeff Matsen is one of the best estate planning and asset protection attorneys in the country.  His knowledge, wisdom and direct experience have truly made him one of the elite group of top experts in his field. If you are concerned about protecting your assets and want to leave a legacy for future generations, I highly recommend you read this book,” says Stephen Fairley, CEO of The Rainmaker Institute, LLC, The Nation’s Largest Law Firm Marketing Company. 

 Marc Selden, Nationally Recognized Estate Planning Attorney, New York City, states “Jeff is widely recognized in the legal community as an asset protection guru.  In this book, Jeff does a wonderful job of explaining the principles and strategies of complex asset protection planning in a very clear and easy-to-understand way.”

The Ladder of Success: An Asset Protection Planning Primer,  $19.95, Paperback 179 pages, ISBN 978-0-9852041-1-2, is published by Wealth Strategies Counsel, and is available online.  >>ORDER NOW

ABOUT  JEFFREY R. MATSEN
JEFFREY R. MATSEN, JD, received his law degree with honors from the UCLA School of Law and served as a Military Judge with the rank of Captain in the US Marine Corps.  Matsen has been a Professor of Law in Business, Estate Planning and Advanced Taxation. He is a highly sought-after and respected speaker and educator and has published numerous legal articles.  Matsen is the founder of “Wealth Strategies Counsel,” the Estate Planning and Business Transactions Department of Matsen Voorhees and Bohm, Matsen, Kegel & Aguilera, LLP, in Orange County, California.  His practice areas include: Business and Estate Planning, Asset Protection, Probate and Trust administration and litigation, Real Estate and Offshore structures.  Matsen has been designated one of the Nation’s “Top 100 Attorneys” by Worth Magazine, A “Super Lawyer” by Los Angeles Magazine and he is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.  The Nationally Renowned Attorney Rating Service, AVVO, has rated Matsen a perfect “10/10 Superb.” Besides continuing to achieve the highest “AV rating,” he has been designated a “Preeminent Lawyer” by the prestigious attorney rating directory, Martindale Hubble.

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Steve Oshins’ 3rd Annual DAPT Ranking Chart & Other Free Updated Charts Available to Download

Steve Oshins’ 3^rd Annual Domestic Asset Protection Trust Ranking Chart
Thanks to the generosity of nationally renowned estate planning and asset protection attorney, Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) for providing his 3rd Annual Domestic Asset Protection Trust Ranking Chart.  For the first time since the chart was originally created, this chart now assigns numerical rankings to each DAPT state. The approximate weights assigned to each variable are listed.  However, please note that in the interests of impartiality, since Nevada is the only state (of the top eight states per the rankings) that doesn’t allow divorcing spouses to access its DAPTs, Steve added a lot of subjective bonus points to the non-Nevada jurisdictions in order for the “Total Score” to not be too skewed. 

Traditional IRA Distribution Flowchart
Thanks to the generosity of nationally renowned CPA and IRA Expert, Robert S. Keebler, we are providing to you his updated Traditional IRA Distribution Flowchart.

Updated Understanding the 3.8% Health Care Surtax Chart
In late March, the Supreme Court began hearing arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the health care reform law that was signed on March 23, 2010.  Accordingly, Robert S. Keebler updated his Understanding the 3.8% Health Care Surtax chart to reflect the new Medicare surtax. This law imposes a 3.8% tax on unearned income, such as interest, dividends, rents, royalties and certain capital gains, for higher income taxpayers (and trusts and estates).

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

*NOTE: Your contact information is required to receive these free resources. By supplying The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. your e-mail address, you are authorizing us to e-mail you announcements in the future about various products and programs we have available. You will also be added to the author's e-mail list and notified of tax news and information about programs.  The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. does not rent or sell its list to other third parties.  You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Attract, Engage & Work with Families with Taxable Estates and Their Advisors

For decades many of us, as wealth strategies planners, have wondered not only how but if we should attract, engage and work with affluent families and those with complex taxable estates.  Their advisors are more protective.  The solutions are more complicated and create larger liability.  Though the fees may be greater, are they enough to cover the time and effort – especially if we only do it occasionally?

The Laureate Center for Wealth Advisors has the training and education needed to attract, engage, and implement work in the taxable estate arena.  You owe it to yourself and your clients to learn more about The Laureate Program, especially if you desire to:

• Quarterback a team of advisors or be called in as a team member;
• Find your quiet confidence as a leader and resource to clients and their advisors;
• Identify, explain, and implement complex tax, wealth, legal, and other technical strategies in an understandable client language;
• Price for your intellectual property and the value you create;
• Improve closing techniques while practice with energy, freedom, and passion;
• Have an effective, process-oriented, and profitable business, not a job

This program should seriously be considered by wealth strategies practitioners and advisors interested in the Families with Taxable Estates market and having the quiet confidence to quote six digit fees.

Below is a summary of The Three Pillars of the Laureate Curriculum: Counseling, Practice Management, and Case Studies. These pillars seem to separate the successful cases from the wildly successful and have helped to truly address the clients’ concerns, increase advisor compensation, and provide an established process through review, design, and implementation.

Counseling – Interpersonal Labs

The training and counseling labs provided through the Laureate Program helps each member decide and recognize which type of client you would like to work with.  We believe that expanding from a “client engagement” to “client partnering” deepens the relationship and leads to more productive plans and results.

Client Partnering achieves the client’s specific goals through the process of Review, Design, and Implementation through authority on and clarity of:

• Problem and what’s behind it;
• Possible Solutions often resulting in former goals as less or not important; and
• Implementation and commitment to solution, timeline, and responsibilities for new goals.

In Client Partnering we facilitate a safe environment to explore the client’s and advisor’s true drivers.  The common characteristics of facilitating a safe environment are:

• Rapport – a continued feeling of connection
• Relevance – current personal perspective related to the subject
• Expanding engagement
• Encouraging “new and clearer thought about the situation and what’s behind it”
• Understanding and committing to “We Can Help”
• Proactive commitment to process
• Expectations – setting, continuously reaffirming, achieving, and “whole plus one”

Practice Management - Processes & Protocols

Processes that worked before may not support a practice serving wealthy clients.  Practitioners need to review and fine tune their processes and systems to support themselves and their team’s implementation, considering changes in technology.  It is even more critical to continue to include the other collaborative advisors in communications, being sensitive and respectful to each professional and his or her role.

In short, continue to enhance your protocols on how you and your team interact with clients and advisors.  Remember to work on, not in, your practice.

Case Studies – Review, Design, and Implementation

It is important to stay abreast of changes caused by new laws, economic conditions, financial products, and the impact of the media.  Even though counseling and practice management are stronger players in attracting and engaging families with taxable estates, financial, tax and legal competency is required to design and implement successful client strategies.  Through the technical and strategic training provided by The Laureate Program, we not only teach the “ins” and “outs” of stand-alone strategies but the more integrated strategies that should, or should not, be used together in the more hands on world of wealth strategies planning.

The art of working with affluent families is in the combining and layering of strategies that we have learned in order to accomplish our client’s deeper goals – identified through counseling. Laureate Program Members, through the Three Pillars of study and its members’ various professional experiences, continue to learn and practice to not only the variations of combining and layering complex strategies through case studies, but also ways to present these strategies to clients in an understandable fashion.

Enjoy Practicing Law – Join The Laureate Program today!

The Laureate Program facilitates discussions and provides process on how to counsel at a deeper level, manage our practices with more process, and to practice case studies that challenge ourselves, make more money, and appreciate what we do.  Collaboration is king! Join The Laureate Program to learn more about how working with affluent families can be profitable and pleasurable with the right team of advisors at the table.

The Laureate Center for Wealth Advisors provides cutting edge training from industry leaders in advanced wealth, business, estate, and income tax planning. This year’s three 3-day session starts May 10-12, 2012. Visit www.laureatecenter.com or call (858) 200-1919 for more information.

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Monday, April 09, 2012

Robert Keebler: Planning for Concentrated Stock Positions, Plus Half Off Bob's Teleconference

Reposted with Permission from Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP

Planning for Concentrated Stock Positions: Variable Forward Sales, Charitable Remainder Trusts and Exchange Funds

The detrimental effects of concentrated stock portfolios are well documented. Not only do they subject the investor to a high level of risk, but their volatility tends to drag down returns.

Fortunately, a number of strategies have been developed to address the problem. This is the last in a three-part series of columns explaining those strategies. In the first column I explained how asset volatility drags down returns, quantified the benefits of diversification and provided a model for analyzing when simply selling off a concentrated position and reinvesting in a diversified portfolio produces a better economic result than holding the stock. In the second column, I pointed out that there are hedging strategies like protective put options and cashless collars that seek to give taxpayers the best of all possible worlds. In this month’s column, we will explore variable forward sales, charitable remainder trusts and exchange funds as alternative hedging strategies.

Variable Forward Sale
In a variable forward sale (VFS), an investor agrees to tender stock to a counter party at a specified future date in exchange for receiving a specified amount of cash up front (usually as a percentage of the underlying stock's current value). A typical VFS term is generally two to five years and the stated percentage 75 percent to 90 percent. The taxpayer could immediately use the sale proceeds to invest in a diversified portfolio even though no tax will be payable until the sale closes, either by physical delivery of some or all of the stock or by cash settlement.

Economics
A VFS is not simply a tax-deferred stock sale because it also provides downside protection and caps upside potential. Thus, it could be thought of as a cashless collar plus a loan against the stock to be sold. In other words, the investor is purchasing a put option to protect the downside, selling a call option limiting potential gain and receiving a current cash advance on the stock subject to the collar. The embedded collar would be subject to the constructive sale rules of Code Sec. 1259 just like any other collar, so the spread between the put strike price and the call strike price should be at least 15 percent.

Advantages
A properly executed VFS accomplishes four important objectives:

1. Provides immediate liquidity for reinvestment
2. Provides downside protection below the put option strike price
3. Enables the investor to retain growth potential up to the amount of the call option strike price
4. Defers gain recognition until the VFS is closed

Variable Forward Sale vs. Outright Sale
Research suggests that an outright sale generally outperforms a VFS. This is not to say, however, that there are not situations in which a VFS can perform better than simply selling the stock. Perhaps the most common situation is one in which the taxpayer is concerned about the risk of a concentrated stock position but is nevertheless bullish about the stock’s prospects in the short term. A VFS would… READ MORE

GET 50% OFF OUR TELECONFERENCE WITH BOB KEEBLER ON THIS RELATED SUBJECT:
Back in December of last year, Bob did a teleconference entitled, "Tax Planning for Concentrated, Low-Basis Stock Positions".  We are offering our blog readers a special 50% discount on the extensive handout materials and the audio recording of this program.  To apply your 50% discount, simply enter in the coupon code "CONCENTRATED" when purchasing.  This offer is only good through next Monday, April 16th.  For more information and to purchase...

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Thursday, April 05, 2012

How Do You Convince Clients to Actually Do GRATs (and Other Estate Tax Planning)?

The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. President and estate planning attorney, Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Tax), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Tax and Probate Law, and nationally renowned estate planning and asset protection attorney, Steven J. Oshins, Esq., co-authored an article entitled, "How Do You Convince Clients to Actually Do GRATs (and Other Estate Tax Planning)?", featured in WealthCounsel's April 2012 Quarterly Newsletter released earlier today.

READ FULL ARTICLE

In the April 2012 WealthCounsel Quarterly Newsletter

Download the April 2012 WealthCounsel Quarterly Newsletter

A Comment on the Ethics of Fraudulent Conveyances
By: Professor Denis Kleinfeld, Esq.

Do Not Forget About an Old 401(k) in Estate Planning
By: Jeffrey Bedell, J.D.

How Naming a Family Financial Assistant Makes Handling the Clients Affairs Easier for Everyone Involved
By: Timothy B. Borchers, Esq.

Create Your Own Micro-Climate To Make It Rain
By: Mark Powers & Shawn McNalis, Atticus, Inc.

Adaptable Planning Advice for 2012 and Beyond
By: Charles Douglas, JD, CFP®, AEP

You Can Call Me Ray, or You Can Call Me J: Common Terms with Different Names
By: Mary Merrell Bailey, JD, CPA, MBA, MSTaxation, MSAccounting

Attract, Engage, and Work with Families with Taxable Estates and Their Advisors
By: Joseph J. Strazzeri, Esq. and Stephen J. Mancini, Esq.

There’s No Place Like Home: Follow the Yellow Brick Road to a Better Estate Plan
By: Stephanie N. Prestridge, J.D.

Chunk It!  We Want to Tell You How to Chunk Your Life So You Can Achieve Peak Performance
By: Julieanne E. Steinbacher, Esq. and Adrianne J. Stahl, Esq.

Additional Content in This Issue!

• Drafting Documents: Set Your Sights on Accessible Language
   
• WebSource™ and ClientDocx™ - - Redefining the Way Members Generate Clients and Growth Their Practices 
   
• Five Reasons to Register Now for the 2012 Symposium

• WealthCounsel Unveils “EstatePlanning.com”
  EstatePlanning.com is the nation’s only web portal specifically designed to educate the public about the importance of estate planning while also facilitating communication with a local attorney.

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Source: WealthCounsel.com

Friday, March 16, 2012

Leimberg Information Services: 60-Second Planner on Fifth Circuit Affirms Chilton on Inherited IRAs

Reproduced with Permission by and Courtesy of Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI).  For information about how to subscribe to LISI, click here.

Nationally renowned CPA, Robert S. Keebler, recently produced an audio recording for Leimberg Information Services on the court ruling in the Chilton case pertaining to Inherited IRAs.  CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE LEIMBERG 60-SECOND PLANNER RECORDING

Special thanks to Robert S. Keebler and Stephan Leimberg for sharing this valuable information!

Additionally, Robert Keebler is gearing up for his upcoming Learn it Live 2-day IRA seminar in Green Bay, Wisconsin on May 14-15, 2012 and just announced a June seminar to take place in Minneapolis. The Minneapolis seminar will be held June 20-21, 2012. This 2-day seminar for lawyers, CPAs and financial advisors is titled: "What the Lawyer, CPA and Financial Advisor Need to Know about Sophisticated Planning and Drafting for IRA & Qualified Plan Distributions Including How to Plan with a $5,120,000 Exemption." The seminar provides extensive coverage regarding planning with retirement accounts including: Estate planning for IRAs with a $5,120,000 exemption, the Pension Protection Act, the IRA Regulations, pre-retirement issues, required beginning date issues, the inherited IRA, the minimum distribution rules, spousal rollovers, QTIPing an IRA, charitable bequest planning, beneficiary designation planning, retirement plans payable to trusts, Roth IRA issues, distribution of employer securities, insurance strategies and new, innovative planning strategies.   For more information and to register...

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Sources: Leimberg Information Services, Inc. & Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP

Friday, March 02, 2012

Senate Highway Bill S.2132 Brings Back Mandated 5-Year Rule for Payout of Inherited IRAs

A special thanks to Robert Keebler of Keebler & Associates, LLP for bringing to our attention the Senate Highway Bill S.2132, which brings back the mandated 5-year rule for Inherited IRAs (with some exceptions).  This obviously has a lot of estate planning professionals on edge to see what's going to happen with respect to retirement benefit planning for clients this year and beyond.  The entire Bill can be found on the Library of Congress' website.  To view S.2132, click here.

Robert Keebler has a phone call into Senator Baucus' office to confirm and will be posting more updates in the future as we eagerly await news on this Bill.

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Photo Credit: rubins401k.com

Friday, March 02, 2012

22 Days of Tax Planning Advice: What I Do in My Practice, Pt. 1

Reposted from AdvisorOne.com | By Mike Patton

This is the first in a series of blog postings from advisor Mike Patton on how he works with clients during tax season and throughout the year to maximize his value to clients when it comes to tax planning.

As we approach tax return filing time, there are opportunities for advisors to add value, even if you’re not your client’s tax preparer. In this post, the first in a series of blogs, I'd like to share what I am doing during this season for my clients. 

Fact-Checking 1099s
Clients should have received their 1099s by now. Although most will contain all of the necessary data, believe it or not, there are a few firms that do not include the cost basis for securities sold. In fact, the custodian that I use 'had' a relationship with one such clearing firm. This firm, which shall remain unnamed, showed the gross proceeds, but not the basis. To remedy this, I export the 'gains and losses' for the calendar year into an Excel spreadsheet. Then I would send this to the client’s tax preparer. Because it was in Excel, it can easily be sorted by capital gain treatment, position, etc.

Asking for Clients' Returns
I sent out an email to all financial planning clients recently requesting a copy of their 2010 tax return and their 2011 return when completed. In an effort to become more involved in this area, and to assist in identifying errors and ways to save, clients were very appreciative. After all, to maximize cash flow, you must either increase income or reduce expenses, or both. And the more free cash flow, the greater the potential for wealth accumulation.

As an example of how having returns benefits clients, one of the returns I reviewed recently was from an elderly couple who had been using the same preparer for decades. The problem was that this particular preparer had made numerous errors on their return. Although I do not prepare returns, and have no plans to do so, I can help identify issues which need addressing. In this case, I referred the client to a CPA who filed an amended return for the year in question. The result? The client saw the benefit I brought to the table. And after all, that's what it's all about! 

Making Tax-Smart Use of My CMS
I just completed a revision of my contact management system. The update included adding fields which will increase my ability to effectively communicate with clients. For example, I added the fields, "taxable" and "tax deferred." Then I created a query so I can filter clients with taxable or tax deferred accounts. To those with taxable accounts, I can send communications geared to tax issues and for tax deferred accounts, I can suggest that they make a contribution to their IRA for 2011. Of course, I would include the parameters whereby they can make a contribution such as having earned income. 

There are many sometimes overlooked steps we can take as advisors to become more involved and add value for our clients when it comes to issues revolving around taxes. These are only a few. Perhaps you'd like to share some of your ideas?

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Photo Credit: namm.org

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

February 29th: Fun Facts About Leap Day

Today is February 29th, 2012.  LEAP DAY!  We thought that it'd be fun to share some fun facts about Leap Day with all of you, thanks to this entry on Yahoo! Work + Money. Enjoy!

2012 is a leap year, meaning that February, the shortest month, has an extra day, bringing the year to 366 days. This notable event comes only every four years. Which means you have an extra 24 hours. So what will you do with yourself? How about heading to Disneyland for 24 hours straight, catching a movie, or spending the day skiing?

Lookups on the Web are taking a leap, including "leap day activities," along with the quadrennial questions: "what is leap year," "why is there a leap year" and "history of leap year." Here, your guide to the day.

When is it? An extra day is added to the month of February every four years. This year, Leap Day is on Wednesday, February 29.

Why we need Leap Day: Usually, our year is 365 days long. Except that it's not: A full cycle of seasons is actually 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 16 seconds long, or about 365.25 days. Over time, the extra quarter of a day adds up, and without Leap Day, the calendar would be one day out of sync with the seasons. After 30 years, it would be about a week off, and after 100 years, it would be nearly a month off.

Bing Quock, the assistant director of Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences, explains, "Leap Day is added as a correction to the calendar so that it stays in sync with the seasons ... that way, the seasons start on the same day from year to year to year."

The history of Leap Year: Leap Year has been around for 2,000 years, since Julius Caesar created the 365-day calendar, although Caesar's astronomer, Sosigenes, get s credit for adding an extra day in February every four years.

How to celebrate: Fans of Disney parks will be lining up to take advantage of "One More Disney Day" at Disneyland in California and at Magic Kingdom in Florida, which will be open for 24 hours, from February 29 at 6 a.m. until 6 a.m. March 1. Michele Himmelberg, a spokesperson for Disney, said it's the first time in recent memory that theme parks on both coasts will be open to mark the quadrennial event. She confirmed the rides will run all night. Hey, come in your PJs.

Leap Year babies probably have the biggest reason to rejoice -- since they see their birthdate only once every four years. Yahoo! searches are in a festive mood with lookups on "leap year birthdays," "leap year birthday cards," and "leap year party ideas." Good news for ski bums born on February 29: Show your Leap Year birthday date and get a free stay at Mammoth ski resorts.

If you prefer to mark the extra day on your couch, there's always "Leap Day," the movie. The 2010 romantic comedy stars Amy Adams and is based on an Irish tradition that a man must say yes to a woman who proposes to him on Leap Day. Some NBC shows have already run their Leap Day-themed episodes, which included "30 Rock's" alternative-universe idea that Leap Day is celebrated like an actual holiday and even has a mascot, "Leap Day William" (Jim Carrey), who stars in a "Groundhog Day"-type movie with Andie MacDowell. Its message: Take a leap.

____________________________________________

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Source: Yahoo! Work + Money Blog by Claudine Zap
Photo Credit: ABCnews.com

Friday, February 24, 2012

Leimberg Information Services: 60-Second Planner on President Obama's Estate & Income Tax Proposal

Reproduced with Permission by and Courtesy of Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI).  For information about how to subscribe to LISI, click here.

As mentioned previously by Robert S. Keebler in a previous blog entry, President Obama's Fiscal Year 2013 budget was released on February 13th. Follow this link to get a full copy of the 2013 Budget. The Treasury's Green Book containing general explanations of the Administration's revenue proposals can be found here.

We now wanted to share with you two Leimberg Information Services, Inc. 60-Second Planner podcasts in response to this budget. One podcast deals with the estate and gift tax proposals of the budget and the other addresses the income tax proposals. These recordings are reproduced courtesy of LISI (Leimberg Information Services, Inc.) and can be found on their website, along with plenty of other resources for you and your practice.

Special thanks to Robert S. Keebler and Stephan Leimberg for this valuable information!

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Sources: Leimberg Information Services, Inc. & Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP
Photo Source: politico.com

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Senate Bill Threatens Life of Stretch IRAs

Highway bill provision would end tax-deferred stretches of IRAs for beneficiaries other than a spouse, minor children or the disabled

Reposted from AdvisorOne | By Melanie Waddell

Industry trade groups are up in arms over a provision in a Senate highway bill that would reduce the value of inherited IRAs, commonly referred to as stretch IRAs, and are determined to have it removed.

The bill, S. 1813, the Highway Investment, Job Creation, and Economic Growth Act, includes a provision that would no longer permit tax deferred stretches of IRAs for beneficiaries other than a spouse, minor children or the disabled. Others, such as adult children, would only be permitted a five-year window to defer.

The provision would require beneficiaries to pay taxes on inherited IRAs over five years instead of spreading them over their lifetime. If passed, the provision would apply to deaths after Dec. 31, 2012.

The proposal is designed to reduce the value of a tax-planning technique that allows inside buildup of tax-deferred funds inside inherited retirement accounts.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, added the provision on Feb. 7 during markup of the bill by his committee, but after pushback he promised to have the provision removed.

During the markup of the bill, Baucus said that “IRAs are intended for retirement,” adding that IRAs are being “used by some taxpayers to give tax-free benefits” to future generations. The taxes from the stretch IRAs provision was to be used to help pay for the highway bill, and would raise $4.6 billion over 10 years.

As it stands now, the provision was adopted by Baucus’ committee and remains intact in the highway bill, which awaits action by the full Senate. Once taken up by the Senate, industry officials believe that the IRA provision will be replaced with one that raises the funds by changing the way assets are valued in defined benefit plans.

Judy Miller, chief of actuarial issues at the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries, says that the new provision would likely "reduce the current required contribution to defined benefit plans; when you do that there are fewer deductions taken so it raises money."

But given that the IRA provision has yet to be taken out, the Financial Services Institute is mobilizing its members to have it removed.

Chris Paulitz, spokesperson for FSI, says that FSI “won’t rest" until it's removed. "We’re keeping the pressure on from our members to try and ensure it eventually is indeed stripped out.”

FSI said in a Feb. 15 letter to its members that “while we expect the provision to be removed from the highway bill, it is important that we send the Senate the message that taxes on inherited IRAs should not be used to pay for other governmental spending.”

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Photo Credit: advisorone.com

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

IRS Extends Deadline to Make Portability Election

By Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP

On February 17th, the IRS released an important Notice allowing an extension to make a portability election for certain qualifying estates. An executor of a qualifying estate that wants to obtain the extension granted by this notice must file the application for a six month extension no later than 15 months after the decedent's date of death. With the extension granted by this notice, the Form 706 of a qualifying estate will be due 15 months after the decedent's date of death. The first of these extensions (and underlying Form 706) will be due April 2nd. Estates qualifying for this election must meet the following requirements:

• The decedent must have a date of death after 12/31/10 and before 7/1/11
• The decedent must be survived by a spouse
• The gross estate does not exceed $5 million
• The estate is not a qualifying estate if the estate effectively requested an automatic six-month extension of time to file Form 706 by timely filing Form 4768 on or before the due date for filing Form 706.

The executor of a qualifying estate may file Form 4768 at the same time as the executor files Form 706, as long as both are filed on or before the date that is 15 months after decedent's date of death. To obtain the extension, the executor must meet the following requirements:

• The executor files Form 4768 with the Service office designated in the form's instructions;
• The executor files Form 4768 no later than 15 months from the decedent's date of death; and
• The executor enters at the top of Form 4768 the notation "Notice 2012-21, Extension for Good Cause Shown" or otherwise sufficiently notifies the Service on or with Form 4768 that Form 4768 is being filed pursuant to this notice.

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Photo Credit: corporatevoices.wordpress.com

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Forbes.com: Obama Declares War On Rich Folks And Wealth Advisors

By Deborah Jacobs
Reposted from Forbes.com

If Pres. Obama has his way, starting next year, it will be substantially more difficult for the ultra rich to pass along wealth to children and grandchildren without giving Uncle Sam his due.

The President’s proposed budget for 2013, issued yesterday, would permanently restore the estate tax rates to those that were in effect in 2009 and severely curtail some popular high-end tools for shifting assets to future generations. The Green Book, as it is called, downloads here as a pdf.

Under current law, we can each transfer up to $5.12 million tax-free during life or at death without incurring a tax of up to 35%. That figure is called the basic exclusion amount. In addition, widows and widowers can add any unused exclusion of the spouse who died most recently to their own. This enables them together to transfer up to $10.24 million tax-free.

Monday, February 13, 2012

U.S. Treasury Announces President Obama's 2013 Budget and Proposed Estate Tax Law Changes

A special thank you to Robert Keebler of Keebler & Associates, LLP for the heads up that the U.S Treasury just released its FY2013 Greenbook, which provides an explanation of the Administration's revenue proposals for Fiscal Year 2013. The Administration's FY2013 budget proposes tax policy to boost growth, create jobs and improve opportunity for the middle class.

In particular, as estate planning professionals, we are all extremely interested to see what is going to happen with the current Federal Estate Tax Exemption Amount, which is set to revert back to $1 million in 2013.  According to this bill, the estate tax exemption amount would revert back to the 2009 $3.5 million level.  According to Robert Keebler, that despite this change, the income tax changes would keep us all busy for a decade.

Some estate planning professionals feel that this bill looks very similar to the 2012 Budget Proposal, which was released exactly a year ago on February 14, 2011 and was rejected by the Senate in a unanimous vote of 97 to 0.

To view the explanations of the proposed changes to the Estate & Gift Tax Exemption, click here.

To view the complete FY2013 Greenbook, click here.

Photo Source: AP

Monday, January 30, 2012

Top 50 Independent Broker/Dealer Women Advisors in 2011

Registered Rep Magazine just released its annual Top 50 Independent Broker/Dealer Women Advisors in 2011 Report.  As noted in Registered Rep's January issue, the wealth management business is changing. Women control a greater percentage of the world’s wealth, and some of them want to work with women advisors. Women are also good at some of the relationship-building skills required of financial advisors today. And so, women are in demand in the business, and the independent space is no exception. Independent Broker/Dealers (IBDs) are ramping up efforts to recruit women advisors, and keep existing ones happy. Many are launching training programs targeted towards women. So far, they’re doing a good job of helping them to succeed. 

(On a sidenote, we are pleased to see that the affiliated advisor that works with Phil's law firm clients is ranked among one of the top advisors on this list!  Congratulations!)

Click here to view the Top 50 IBD Women Advisors in 2011

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Photo Source: cjmfiscal.com

Saturday, January 07, 2012

New Website Launched!

We are pleased to announce the launch of our newly designed website.  We think that the navigation and ease of finding things are among the many improvements to the site.

There are still many areas of the website that we will be building up and improving over the course of the next few months.  Here's just a preview of what you can expect to find in the near future:

• Updated blog entries with information from leading sources in the estate and financial planning field
• Ability to search for and purchase more of our most popular teleconferences held in 2011
• Detailed descriptions and information (including demonstrations) for our products
• More free resources for professionals, including reports, charts and podcasts
• On-demand online courses
• Information on continuing education credit for our teleconferences
• Ability to customize your e-mail preferences to make sure you get the e-mails from us that you want to receive
• Phil Kavesh's Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust legal document form

In the meantime, please take a moment to browse through our website.  If you find any problems or issues with the website, please feel free to e-mail us so that we can address any issues right away.  Also, please be advised that any previous links to teleconferences or pages to download handout materials from our previous website are no longer available.  If you need to access a certain page and cannot locate it, please contact us and we will be more than happy to help you.

A special thanks to the help of folks over at Amicus Creative and the hard work of The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. staff for getting this website launched in such a short period of time!

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

New Blog for The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc.

We have followed suit with many other companies and have decided to start a blog, which we hope will become a great resource for estate planning professionals of all kinds of designations, including attorneys, CPAs, financial advisors, insurance agents, enrolled agents and many more.  There’s a vast well of knowledge and information out there.  It can be difficult, timely and quite expensive to sift through all of the different outlets out there.  We hope to become your “one-stop-shop” to get this information.

We have a lot of things coming down the pipeline.  We’ve moved our offices.  We’ve expanded our staff.  We’ve added several new speakers and teleconferences to the schedule.  And, we have a new website coming out in the near future.  Stay tuned and be sure that you’re signed up to receive our e-mail announcements.  You can click here to sign up or update your profile with us.

This post has been brought to you by The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc., providing practical, tested and proven technical and marketing products to help estate planning professionals throughout the country build their practices.  Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Photo Credit: gabrielweinberg.com