Thanks to the generosity of Stephan Leimberg and Leimberg Information Services, we are pleased to bring to you complimentary podcasts on the following important updates. Senate Bill 205, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2017 Senate Bill 205, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2017, would not only repeal the estate tax — it would also eliminate a technique designed to reduce state income tax, the ING trust. Bob Keebler reports. LISI members can read more about S. 205 and other estate tax repeal proposals in Estate Planning Newsletter No. 2516 by Ed Morrow, published on February 10, 2017. To…
Free Webinar – Estate Planning in 2017 & Beyond
Courtesy of WealthCounsel, LLC Ever since 2001, the keyword for estate tax planning has been “flexibility.” Thanks to a 10-year phased-in temporary estate tax repeal, followed by a massive economic recession, and then followed by the Tax Act of 2012 that effectively repealed estate tax for all but 0.2% of the population in the United States, estate planning has been anything but predictable or boring. Fast forward to 2017, estate planners are left wondering… “What will the Republican-controlled Senate and the Donald Trump Presidency bring in terms of tax changes and how will that impact the estate planning industry?” Estate…
What a Donald Trump Presidency Means for Estate Planning
By Jeramie Fortenberry, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation) Executive Editor & Legal Education Faculty WealthCounsel, LLC In a surprising upset, Republican candidate Donald J. Trump defeated Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton on November 8, 2016, to become President-elect of the United States. Republicans maintained a majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives, creating alignment between the White House and Congress and paving the way for Republican-backed legislation. Given the emphasis on taxes by both the incumbent Republican leadership and President-elect Trump, significant tax reform is more likely now than it has been in recent years. Trump’s tax plan is largely aligned…
Trump Wins: A Brave New World for Estate Planners
By Jonathan G. Blattmachr, Esq. & Martin M. Shenkman, CPA/PFS, AEP (Distinguished), MBA, J.D. Reproduced with Permission by and Courtesy of Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI). For information about how to subscribe to LISI, click here. “The election of Donald J. Trump as our 45th President was largely unexpected. It is difficult to forecast what that will mean during his term, and, perhaps, his second term. However, he has proposed wide-ranging changes to the nation’s tax system which will affect virtually all Americans and their advisors. Estate planners in particular face a dramatic impact on their practices.” EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The…
2016 WealthCounsel Symposium Debrief
By Kristina Schneider, Executive Director It’s Tuesday, October 25, 2016 and I just returned to the office from the 2016 WealthCounsel Symposium in Washington, D.C. The annual conference for WealthCounsel is always one that is a bit personal to me, as it was the conference I first attended a week after Phil hired me back in July 2004. It’s always fun to see familiar faces and to be around the very people that we help throughout the year. As an internet-based company, it’s pretty rare that we have face-to-face contact and most of all of my contact with our customers…
You, Inc.: Branding Yourself in a Competitive Estate Planning Industry
Download Printable Article By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) We are Brands Whether you are an attorney, a CPA, a trust officer or a financial advisor, you are who people think you are. Public perception is often more important than reality, at least in regard to the business you generate and the advisors and clients who contact you. You could be the smartest advisor in the world, but if nobody knows it then you won’t get the types of clients that you should be getting. We’re all brands, whether we like it or not. Other advisors think of us…
David vs. Goliath: How Nevada Became a Leading Trust Jurisdiction
Download Printable Article By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) “Always remember…Goliath was a 40-point favorite over David.” -Shug Jordan (1910-1980), athlete and football and basketball coach Many years ago, Delaware was considered the go-to trust jurisdiction. However, other jurisdictions enhanced their trust laws through the years, and the consensus now is that Nevada, South Dakota, Alaska and Delaware are the first-tier jurisdictions, at least in the minds of most trust practitioners. Delaware has always been the Goliath in the trust industry, whereas the other jurisdictions have served the role of David. But Delaware has made less material enhancements to…
ABA Heckerling Reports from the 2016 Heckerling Institute
For the past 17 years, the American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law with the permission of the University of Miami School of Law, releases several extensive reports highlighting the various lectures and proceedings of the Heckerling Institute, one of the nation’s largest estate planning conferences, held every year in January. This past January 2016, marked the 50th Annual Heckerling Institute. To view, download and access these extensive reports, please click here to visit the ABA’s website. Further, at the above website, you can also access reports from prior Heckerling Institutes as well. We, at The…
With Estate Tax Planning Basically Dead, Here’s a Trust You Should Be Selling to a Lot of Your Clients
By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law It’s not a Living Trust (but it does have broad application). Nor is it an Asset Protection or Medicaid Trust (though it does have some asset protection features). And, thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision, this Trust has been made even better (or more valuable). Okay, here it is. The Standalone Retirement Trust (or “IRA Beneficiary Trust”, or, as I call it, the “IRA Inheritance Trust®”). It’s simply a trust that acts as beneficiary of a client’s IRAs…
My Spouse (or other loved one) is Heading Into a Nursing Home… What Should I Do Now?
Download Printable Article By Louis W. Pierro, Esq. If your estate planning clients are like mine, it takes time to educate them, and get them across the threshold, before they are willing to commit and pay the fees that you are looking to charge. On the other hand, by far the most motivated clients I have are those who are in crisis — they (or another family member) need nursing home care now, and are looking for help getting Medicaid, and saving some portion of their life savings. The value of our services is abundantly clear — and our clients…