By Steven J. Oshins, J.D., AEP (Distinguished) The 2nd Annual Trust Decanting State Rankings Chart was released earlier this week. This year’s chart includes more variables than were included in last year’s chart. The additional attributes were added in order to provide the end user with as many details as possible so the best jurisdiction can be selected based on the desired decanting or, with respect to a newly-formed irrevocable trust, the best jurisdiction to maximize future decanting flexibility. What is Decanting? Trust decanting is the act of distributing assets from one trust to a new trust with different terms….
Beware of Standard Provisions in LP & LLC Documents
They can inadvertently divest your client’s family from controlling the business or cost millions in additional estate, gift or income taxes! By Edwin Morrow, J.D., LL.M., MBA, CFP®, RFC® Investors increasingly use limited liability companies, limited liability partnerships or limited partnerships (“LLCs”, “LLPs” and “LPs”) to operate a trade or business, to hold real estate or hold other investment assets, as opposed to state law corporations. When only immediate family are owners, these are often referred to as family limited partnerships or limited liability companies (“FLPs” and “FLLCs”). There are numerous business, asset protection and estate planning reasons for using…
The Art of Roth Recharacterizations
By Robert S. Keebler, CPA/PFS, MST, AEP (Distinguished), CGMA For affluent taxpayers Roth Conversions provide a significant opportunity to move funds from a tax deferred environment (as is the case with traditional IRAs) into a tax-free environment (as is the case with Roth IRAs) at a relatively reasonable current income tax cost. In general, there are eight reasons why a person may want to consider converting to a Roth IRA: Special favorable tax attributes (e.g., charitable deduction carryforwards, net operating losses (NOLs), investment tax credits, excess itemized deductions, high basis nondeductible traditional IRAs, etc.) can be taken advantage of. The…