Thanks to Robert Keebler of Keebler & Associates, LLP for the heads up that the final Form 706 instructions were posted on the IRS website on Tuesday. DOWNLOAD FINAL FORM 706 DOWNLOAD FINAL FORM 706 INSTRUCTIONS We also just held a teleconference with Bob on Wednesday on the New Form 706 & Portability. To purchase the handout materials and audio recording of this program, click here.

Thanks to generosity of Leimberg Information Services and nationally renowned estate planning attorneys, Jonathan G. Blattmachr, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation) & Alan S. Gassman, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), Florida State Bar Certified Specialist in Wills, Trusts & Estates, we are pleased to provide to you a recently published article on LISI, where they discuss the importance of stepped-up basis planning for married couples. Also, for more information about Alan Gassmans’ JEST Trust Legal Document Form, click here. Alan Gassman & Jonathan G. Blattmachr: Stepping Up Efforts to Step-Up Basis for Married Couples EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The capital gains tax may be the most…

The IRS posted an an early release draft of Form 706 (posted on October 23, 2013). The IRS provides this information as a courtesy. To download the Draft Form 706, click here. Thanks to ATRA and the “permanent” $5+ million tax estate tax exemption, some people feel that fewer estates will be required to file a Form 706. But they’re wrong! Lots of estates that don’t exceed $5.25 million may want to file a 706 because of another 2010 Tax Act provision… “Portability”! Married couples may now fully utilize the first to die’s Estate Tax Exemption without bothering to set…

This was shared with us by a fellow colleague and we thought it was funny and a great way to start off the week (on a funny note!). Enjoy and please feel free to share! Proposed New Living Will Form I, _______________________, being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead partisan politicians who couldn’t pass ninth grade biology if their lives depended on it or lawyers, doctors, and hospitals interested in running up the bills. If a reasonable…

With passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act in 2012, portability has now been made “permanent”. Introduced into law for the first time in 2011 with the 2010 Tax Act, the concept of portability permits a married couple to fully utilize its combined $10 million (and now $10.5 million) lifetime exemption as indexed by letting the surviving spouse claim any unused portion of the deceased spouse’s exemption. With this provision now permanent, the surviving spouse no longer has a time limit to decide how best to use the increased exemption both during life through increased gifting and at death by…

With passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act in 2012, portability has now been made “permanent”. Introduced into law for the first time in 2011 with the 2010 Tax Act, the concept of portability permits a married couple to fully utilize its combined $10 million (and now $10.5 million) lifetime exemption as indexed by letting the surviving spouse claim any unused portion of the deceased spouse’s exemption. With this provision now permanent, the surviving spouse no longer has a time limit to decide how best to use the increased exemption both during life through increased gifting and at death by…