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There is a good article posted about donor’s remorse on WSJ Online called “The Rush to Avoid Gift Taxes.”  The article can be found by clicking here and discusses the perils of making gifts to irrevocable trusts. As...

The problem with irrevocable trusts is that, well, they are irrevocable.  Once executed, an irrevocable trust may only be amended on rare occasion, and in most cases, only upon court order.   Life happens and sometimes the...

When you die, you can’t take it with you, but perhaps you can do some good with the assets that you leave behind.  This was the topic at the 46th Annual Heckerling Institute Conference presentation called “What Every...

This week I had the pleasure of attending a meeting of the Estate Planning Council of South Orange County.  The keynote speaker, Barry P. Levine, a consultant with Northern Trust, gave an interesting presentation titled,...

This blog focuses on estate planning, but many times estate planning intersects with income tax planning.   Take, for example this week’s post on The Wall Street Journal Online edition titled “There Is Still Time to Cut...

With record low interest rates, homeowners are rushing to refinance their mortgages.  With 30-year fixed rates averaging around 4%, who can blame them?   Moreover, with many lenders also offering to waive closing costs, it...

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the “Act”) added a  “portability feature” for estates of decedents dying after 2010 and before 2013.  This allows a surviving...

Every once in a while, the federal government gets it right.  Cost of Living Adjustments impacting tax rates for 2012 were recently released and most of the adjustments are favorable (see The Wall Street Journal, October 22,...