With the federal gift and estate tax exemption now at a record high $11.58 million for 2020, most estates aren’t taxable. But that doesn’t mean making lifetime gifts isn’t without significant benefits — even if your estate isn’t taxable under the current rules. Let’s examine reasons why gifting remains an important part of estate planning.
Estate Archives - Crawford Ellenbogen
Sep 22, 2020
Making lifetime gifts continues to be a smart estate planning strategy
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Estate
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Aug 19, 2020
Take advantage of a “stepped-up basis” when you inherit property
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Estate
- 0 Comments
If you’re planning your estate, or you’ve inherited assets, you may be unsure of the “cost” (or “basis”) for tax purposes. Under the fair market value basis rules (also known as the “step-up and step-down” rules), an heir receives a basis in inherited property equal to its date-of-death value. For example, if your grandfather bought
Aug 11, 2020
Zeros and ones: Estate planning for your digital assets and accounts
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Estate
- 0 Comments
Nearly everyone owns at least some digital assets, such as online bank and brokerage accounts, bill-paying services, cloud-based document storage, digital music collections, social media accounts, and domain names. But what happens to these assets when you die or if you become incapacitated? The answer depends on several factors, including the terms of your service
Jul 29, 2020
A win-win proposition: A CRT can benefit you and your favorite charity
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Estate, Uncategorized
- 0 Comments
A charitable remainder trust (CRT) can convert assets into a stream of lifetime income, provide a current tax deduction and leave the remainder to your favorite charity. Typically, a CRT is funded with income-producing assets, such as real estate and securities. These assets may be supplemented by cash deposits. When you transfer assets to the
Jul 23, 2020
Avoid pitfalls when splitting gifts with your spouse
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Estate
- 0 Comments
The annual gift tax exclusion allows you to transfer up to $15,000 per beneficiary gift-tax-free for 2020, without tapping your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption. And you can double the exclusion to $30,000 per beneficiary if you elect to split the gifts with your spouse. It’s important to understand the rules surrounding gift-splitting to
Jul 8, 2020
Business succession and estate planning: It can be complicated
- By Victor Dozzi
- Estate
- 0 Comments
Transferring a family business to the next generation requires a delicate balancing act. Estate and succession planning strategies aren’t always compatible, and family members often have conflicting interests. By starting early and planning carefully, however, it’s possible to resolve these conflicts and transfer the business in a tax-efficient manner. Ownership vs. management succession One reason
Jul 2, 2020
Concealing a trust could run afoul of state law
- By Victor Dozzi
- Estate
- 0 Comments
If your estate plan includes trusts, you may want to keep them a secret from the beneficiaries, such as your children. But, don’t run afoul of state law, which may require trustees to disclose information to beneficiaries. For example, the Uniform Trust Code adopted by many states requires a trustee to provide trust details to
Jun 9, 2020
Build flexibility into your estate plan with powers of appointment
- By Victor Dozzi
- Estate
- 0 Comments
There are several tools to build flexibility into your estate plan. One tool is a power of appointment. It’s simply a provision in your estate plan that permits another person, such as a beneficiary, to determine how, when and to whom certain assets in your estate or trust will be distributed. The person who receives
May 19, 2020
Now may be the time to forgive intrafamily loans
- By Victor Dozzi
- Estate
- 0 Comments
An intrafamily loan may be an attractive estate planning tool if you’ve already used up your gift and estate tax exemption or if you wish to save it for future transfers. But if you have exemption to spare, forgiving an intrafamily loan allows you to transfer the entire loan principal plus any accrued interest tax-free,
Apr 30, 2020
The rules have changed regarding your IRAs, RMDs and estate plan
- By Ellenbogen
- Estate
- 0 Comments