The Top Six Estate Planning Concepts Your Future Ex-Spouse Doesn’t Want You to Know About

Download Printable Article By Steven J. Oshins Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Divorce can be ugly. But it’s a realistic possibility for anybody who is married. Therefore, estate planners must plan for it when designing their clients’ estate and asset protection plans. This article will highlight six concepts that can protect assets from a divorcing spouse and, in some cases, enhance or keep together the marital relationship — at least until the day of reckoning. The planning concepts described herein are listed in no particular order of importance. The “Floating Spouse Provision” – When designing a trust, unless there is a compelling…

Blue Sky Planning: Defining What’s Possible

By Jason Oshins, Financial Advisor, MBA As I view the world around me, I often consider the following question: “If we designed this from scratch, how would it look?” And frequently, it wouldn’t resemble what currently exists. How would, say, the airline industry look? What would be the structure of healthcare? Would women wear heels and men wear ties? If we could get thoughtful, provocative pragmatists in a room, what would they create? I often think about how this relates to financial planning – estate planning, investment planning, retirement planning, and insurance planning. In this article, I begin with the aforementioned…

Are Your Clients (And Their Older Relatives) Wasting Their $5.45 Million Coupon To Increase Tax Basis?

Download Printable Article By Edwin P. Morrow III, J.D., LL.M. (Tax), CFP®, RFC® For many taxpayers, the traditional trust design for married couples is now obsolete. The number of estates paying federal estate tax is minimal. Traditional AB trust designs risk incurring higher income taxes after the first death, and reduced basis increase at the second death. New trust designs can not only mitigate against this risk, but create income tax advantages over outright bequests. Practitioners must now consider the applicable exclusion amount not so much as a “coupon” to exempt estate tax, but a “coupon” to increase basis –…