Trusts and Estates

Trusts and Estates: Should You Make the Election? Trust and estate fiduciaries, take note: you still have time to improve your 2018 tax position. The U.

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The political ground appears to be shifting on the taxation of assets that are transferred among family members as part of their estate planning. While many details have yet to emerge, there are indications that in 2017 there could be some tax law changes that would help families and their businesses preserve more assets and reduce tax liabilities. We reviewed those issues on May 15 at a Business Valuation Conference sponsored by the New York State Society of CPAs.

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The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 introduced the concept of portability. Portability allows the executor of a deceased spouse’s estate to transfer any unused estate tax exemption to the surviving spouse, as long as the surviving spouse was a US citizen or resident. In simple terms, portability of the federal estate tax exemption between married couples means that if the first spouse dies and the value of the estate does not require the use of all of the deceased spouse’s federal exemption from estate taxes, then the amount of the exemption not used for the deceased spouse’s estate may be added to the surviving spouse’s exemption when the surviving spouse later dies.

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Over the last year, after talking to many clients about estate tax planning, it became clear that even though the New York State estate tax law was changed on March 31, 2014, many people paid no attention to the changes. There was some good news regarding the change of law. The NY estate tax exclusion amount rises each fiscal year beginning April 1 until it equals the federal exclusion amount on January 1, 2019.

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Differences Between the Generations By: Mark Ackerman, CPA When we perform estate financial and asset protection, it is important to take into consideration generational differences.

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