Course Description: Every practitioner in every discipline has heard this complaint about a grantor trust and likely we will all hear more of it. Grantor trusts have become the foundation of most modern estate plans. One of the many “benefits” of grantor trusts is that the settlor creating the trust pays the income tax on income…
Retainer agreements (engagement letters) are critical to establish and document the understanding the practitioner has with the client. They are an important step that practitioners can take to identify expected actions and protect practitioners from a myriad of potential issues, or worse, ethical problems or suits. What should practitioners consider including in a retainer agreement?…
Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (“SLATs”) are ubiquitous in estate planning. As clients plan to use exemption before it is reduced by half in 2026 the issue of access to SLAT assets is key. Those with sufficient wealth may avoid any form of access. But for most clients some type of access is essential to assure…
If you have moved, or are considering moving to Florida, have or are buying a second home in Florida, there are important implications of Florida law and planning that should be considered. This presentation will explore a wide range of Florida legal and planning considerations, including: who can be a personal representative of a Floridian’s…
Acting as a fiduciary (trustee, executor, etc.) isn’t easy. A fiduciary owes many duties to the beneficiaries (or others depending on which fiduciary role) and a breach of a duty can result in liability. This includes the duty to account. Sometimes an accounting is required by the governing instrument or by state statute, ordered by…
Speakers: Jonathan Blattmachr, Esq., Abigail O’Connor, Esq., Martin M. Shenkman, Esq. *This may constitute attorney advertising. *There are no professional advancement credits (CPE, CLE, etc.) offered for viewing this webinar.
Course Description: Year-end tax planning 2022 is different from prior years. Practitioners might recommend traditional annual gift planning but for some perhaps many clients annual gifts may not be worthwhile. We’ll explore the pros and cons of annual gifts and nuances such as GST implications. There is also still time for practitioners to encourage clients to…
2022 is quickly coming to a close and there are still valuable tax and estate planning opportunities that taxpayers and their advisers should consider. While year-end planning in 2020 and 2021 was overwhelmingly focused on estate tax planning due to the threat of dramatic tax changes, there appears to be no threat of massive tax…
Jonathan Blattmachr, Martin Shenkman and Vary Vandenack discuss SLATs, using exemption, and other planning techniques that should be considered now.
Spousal lifetime access trusts (“SLATs”) are a popular technique that we see much more use before the exemption drops in 2026. However practitioners can use an array of variations of the SLAT technique (SPATs, hybrid-DAPTs or DAPTs) and address a variety of options within even the SLAT technique to make it more robust and to…