The Phillip E. Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning is the nation’s premier conference for estate planning professionals, offering unparalleled educational and professional development opportunities for all members of the estate planning team. The 2023 Heckerling Institute was held in-person in Orlando on January 9-13 and marked the conference’s 57th year. Over the course of the conference’s five days, numerous timely topics of interest to estate planners of all designations—including, but not limited to, attorneys, trust officers, accountants, charitable giving professionals, elder law specialists, wealth management professionals, and nonprofit advisors. As they have done for many years, the American Bar Association…
Strength in Numbers
By Bert A. Cooper, CES Can a solo Financial Advisor effectively offer all the expertise their clients deserve? While we’d all like to think we’re exceptional at what we do, the real answer is no. The most successful Advisors are those with a team behind them. I saw a growing need among clients for comprehensive wealth management and my vision was to build a cohesive team that consisted of specialists who offered these services exceptionally well. In order to make this vision a reality I had to make a series of important strategic decisions. I knew from the start I…
Did You Know That Nevada Has Laws Allowing for Larger Valuation Discounts Than in Every Other State?
By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Estate planners have been rushing to help clients make large gifts before the gift and estate tax exemption drops in half at the end of 2025. But are estate planners truly maximizing the wealth transfer for their clients? Most are not doing so, simply because they’re failing to take advantage of a legislation I authored that passed and became law in Nevada’s 2009 legislative session. This was likely overlooked because the gift and estate tax exemptions exponentially increased soon after that thereby making it unnecessary for the smaller net worth clients to fully…
Steve Oshins Releases the 8th Annual Non-Grantor Trust State Income Tax Chart!
By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) State income tax avoidance planning has become a necessary area of expertise for all estate planners. After all, how can an estate planner design a trust without first analyzing the income tax effects of selecting residents of different states as trustees? The 8th Annual Non-Grantor Trust State Income Tax Chart The 8th Annual Non-Grantor Trust State Income Tax Chart is a summary of the state income tax rules for non-grantor trusts and highest state income tax rate from state to state. It simplifies the analysis by summarizing each state’s taxing rules and providing…
Steve Oshins: Estate Planning for Large Estates
Estate Planning Attorney, Philip Kavesh, and President of The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. recently interviewed nationally-known estate planning and asset protection attorney, Steve Oshins. The interview consisted of a number of questions related to estate planning for large estates. Following are some of the highlights of the interview. Phil Kavesh: What do you consider a large estate? Steve Oshins: I would define “large” as $30 million or more. Roughly half of my clients are over that number and half are under that number. Phil Kavesh: What does the $30 million-plus client think about? Steve Oshins: These clients generally know that they…
Basis Bump Planning: Using Grandma to Get a Stepped-Up Income Tax Basis
By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) The federal estate and gift tax exemption is at an all-time high. In fact, it’s so high that very few people would owe any federal estate tax if they were to die today. Therefore, almost everybody dies leaving unused estate tax exemption on the table. Estate Tax Exemption as Currency Dollar, Euro, Yen, Pound, Franc, Peso, Estate Tax Exemption! Yes, Estate Tax Exemption! Estate Tax Exemption is a form of currency. However, unlike the other currencies, if you don’t use it during your lifetime you can’t pass it to your heirs (other than…
Steve Oshins’ 2021 Estate Planning Naughty List
By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Were you naughty or have you been nice in 2021? This article is directed towards Congress, all estate planners, including attorneys, accountants, trust officers, life insurance agents and financial planners. This will help you decide whether you’ve been naughty or you’ve been nice. 1. [Now Apparently Defunct] Build Back Better Act’s Potential 8% Surtax on Trusts: The language in the [now apparently defunct] proposed legislation applies a 5% surtax to taxable income (technically Modified Adjustable Gross Income) above $200,000 and an 8% surtax to taxable income above $500,000 in a non-grantor trust regardless…
Why Not To Use Incentive Clauses in Trusts
By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Many attorneys draft incentive clauses into trusts. An incentive clause generally makes additional distributions to the beneficiary upon reaching certain milestones. Probably the most popular incentive clause is one which makes mandatory distributions based on matching the beneficiary’s salary. That sounds great until you actually think through a real-life example and the disastrous results. A REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE Assume that Client has three young children. Child A grows up to be a top surgeon earning $3 million per year. Child B becomes a stay-at-home parent to three wonderful children and is one of the…
Punditry, Politics, and Your Portfolio
By Jason Oshins, Financial Advisor, MBA Most financial advisors are fielding the same question multiple times each say: “What should I do about my investments?”. With the election fresh on our minds, let’s review context and determine a prudent answer to this ubiquitous question. Let’s face it, if 2020 were a song, it would be Macarena”. Meaning, for most, it can’t end soon enough. We’re definitely in the thick of it. Everywhere you turn, people are talking about the state of the world. What if Biden wins the election? What if Trump is reelected? How will COVID-19 impact everything? What…
U.S. States Not Reporting Recoveries | Coronavirus Stock Market Insight Series
We have invited Harvard educated economist, Dryden Pence – – who regularly appears on TV at Fox Business News, CNBC, and Bloomberg Business – – to address the burning questions in the minds of so many estate planners (and their clients) during these difficult times. This will be the 7th video of Dryden’s “Coronavirus Stock Market Insight” series. Market volatility, news headlines, and reported government responses to this pandemic can be unsettling, alarming, and confusing. The management at Pence Wealth Management has years of experience in navigating confusing market turbulence. Source: YouTube DISCLOSURE: The opinions voiced in this material are for…