Heckerling 2024 Reports from the ABA

The 2024 Heckerling Institute was held in-person (and virtually) in Orlando on January 8-12 and marked the conference’s 58th year. 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.  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…

Projecting the Year-by-Year Estate and Gift Tax Exemption Amount

By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) The federal estate and gift tax exemption is currently $12,060,000 per person. This number increases (or decreases) each year based on inflation and then is rounded. This article does nothing extraordinary. It simply lays out the projected increases over the next few years based on the most recent inflation rate which is 8.5%. Anybody with a calculator can compute these numbers, but many people have not yet done so, so the numbers outlined herein may come as a shock! Trump Tax Act The Trump Tax Act increases (or decreases) the federal estate and…

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…

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…

Saving State Income Taxes: NING Trusts and Completed Gift Non-Grantor Options

By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Prior to the Trump Tax Act, state income taxes paid were deductible against federal income tax. However, the Trump Tax Act limits the amount of the federal income tax deduction for state income taxes paid, real property taxes paid and sales taxes paid to a cumulative (yes, cumulative!) total of $10,000 per year. The $10,000 is used up for property taxes only for many of our clients. Therefore, state income taxes paid are essentially no longer deductible! This is why state income tax avoidance planning has arguably become the hottest area of estate…

The 2022 Biden Estate Tax Cliff: Preparing After the 1/1/2013 and 1/1/2021 Cliffs

By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) If you are an estate planner, you likely had your best revenue ever in 2012.  Then you likely annihilated your previous revenue record in 2020.  This happened because of the so-called “fear of missing out” with different tax “cliffs” expected to occur at the end of those two years, thereby causing a commotion among the wealthy. JANUARY 1, 2013 FISCAL CLIFF Rewind back to the year 2012.  President Obama was in office and the $5 million estate and gift tax exemption was scheduled to expire and roll back to only $1 million at…

9th Annual Dynasty Trust State Rankings Chart Released

By  Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) The 9th Annual Dynasty Trust State Rankings Chart has been released! This year’s Chart factors in the new era of Dynasty Trusts. The Chart is an easy-to-use summary of leading Dynasty Trust states that shows the material differences among the states and ranks them according to usability and flexibility. Planners often focus on the multi-generational estate tax benefits of a Dynasty Trust. However, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 essentially doubled the federal estate and gift tax exemption which, after inflationary increases, is now $11.58 million per person, or $23.16 million…

The Biden Estate Tax Cliff: Gifting Like it’s 2012 All Over Again!

By  Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Those estate planning attorneys who were in practice in 2012 surely remember the last few months of the year when prospective clients were calling and emailing all day long every day literally begging us to take “just one more client”! There was a mad rush to make $5 million gifts before the estate tax exemption was going to drop back down when the clock struck midnight at the end of 12/31/2012. Most of the experienced attorneys were so busy that they stopped taking new clients in October or November. FAST FORWARD TO 2020…

6th Annual Non-Grantor Trust State Income Tax Chart Released!

By  Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) Different states have different rules as to what creates a “resident trust” that is subject to taxation in that state.  States may tax a trust based on the residency of the settlor or testator, based on whether there is a resident trustee or beneficiary or whether there is administration in that state, or for a combination of these factors and/or other similar factors. So it isn’t as easy as simply situsing a trust in a state with no state income tax.  You have to look at the state taxing statutes that may apply….

The SECURE Act: Everything You Need to Know (and How to Advise Your Clients!)

On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed a spending bill which had attached to it a piece of legislation that much of the estate, tax and financial world has been anxiously awaiting for an update on called the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019” (or “SECURE Act”). The SECURE Act went into effect January 1st, 2020 and is set to dramatically impact retirement planning for you and your clients! As many are aware, the most important provision of the SECURE Act to impact our clients and the planning we do for them includes the elimination of…