Married couples have oftentimes had two separate trusts. In other words, one spouse would have a trust and the other spouse would too. This planning was typically done to minimize or avoid the estate tax at their passing. Over the last decade though, the estate tax laws have changed so much that having two separate …
If you have named two or more of your children as your successor co-trustees or have real estate that is important to your family, you should continue reading. A recent Michigan Court of Appeals case provides a cautionary tale for naming co-trustees and family real estate. In this case, both parents passed and they had …
In the recent bills to change the tax code, there’s an effort to prohibit planning that’s very beneficial to passing a family business to the next generation. This planning has become known as an installment sale to a grantor trust. This is how it works. G1 (the current owners of the family business) form one …
Family Business Succession and Estate Tax Planning: The Window May Be Closing Read More »
Since the Georgia Senate election and Democrats gaining enough votes to pass tax legislation on their own, it’s been anticipated that changes will be coming to the estate/gift tax. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has now introduced a bill that would do just that and make significant changes to these laws. The bill would lower the …
The Train Is At the Station: Changes to the Estate and Gift Tax Introduced in Congress Read More »
What happens when a person dies with a vehicle titled in their name with no surviving co-owner? Some states allow vehicle owners to name a beneficiary to take title upon an owner’s death. Michigan is not one of those states. But it is fairly simple to take care of this situation without the dreaded trip …
Transferring a Vehicle Upon Death of a Family Member Read More »
One of the biggest barriers to passing a cottage to your children is affordability and more specifically property taxes. If transferring a cottage isn’t done in certain ways, the property taxes will be adjusted to the current value (or “uncapped” as we call it). This could result in a small change, but it more often …
Keeping The Family Cottage Affordable For The Next Generation Read More »
More than half of people in the United States give to charitable and faith-based organizations during their lives. However, it’s estimated that less than 10% leave a portion of their estate to these organizations when they pass away. It’s not known why there’s such a difference between these two time periods. Regardless of the reason, …
Don’t Forget What’s Important to You When Doing Your Estate Plan Read More »
There are a variety of ways to financially support charitable organizations and their causes. The most common are giving cash and making out a check. But, other options (i.e. giving appreciated investments like stock, mutual funds, and real estate) are often better for income tax purposes. Business owners have another option because they own privately …
Business Owners: You Have Another Option For Charitable Planning Read More »
If the situation and relationship dynamics allow, I generally advise clients that want to choose co-trustees to administer their trust to allow them to act independent of one another. That way, the co-trustees can determine who should handle each task and work more efficiently. They can divide and conquer the tasks of selling real estate, …
The Pitfalls of Co-Trustees Representing Your Trust Read More »
You have weighed the options and decided a trust makes sense for your estate planning goals. The most important thing you will consider when it comes to your trust is, “who to name as trustee”. A trustee is the person who is obligated to administer the trust, and make sure the instructions expressed in the …
Should You Choose One Trustee or Co-Trustees for Your Trust? Read More »
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