In December 2019, Congress passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, with the intention of facilitating the creation and use of retirement accounts, including individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and 401(k) plans. Whether intentional or not, the bill has eliminated a popular tool used in estate planning…
One aspect of estate planning involves devising strategies to minimize the amount paid in federal taxes out of one’s estate. At the end of 2017, the total exemption for the federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes doubled. This increase is currently set to expire after eight years, after…
The estate tax applies to property transferred by a will or other probate proceedings. Congress has set extensive limitations on who is obligated to pay estate tax. The most recent tax reform bill, enacted in 2017, more than doubled the size of estates that are excluded from estate tax liability….