Unfortunately, too many recent newsletters have focused on the death of musical legends. This month left us with another untimely death. Prince, whose legal name was Prince Rogers Nelson, died on April 21st at his Paisley Park recording studio and home in Chanhassen, Minnesota. As unbelievable as it may seem, according to his sister, Tyka […]
Individuals that own property in multiple states often consider placing the property into a revocable trust for planning purposes. While this can be an effective planning technique, there are some important points to consider. For purposes of the new Minnesota estate tax [2], a Minnesota resident’s gross estate includes any property that is physically located […]
Last week, I was lucky enough to see the cliff up close. Not the fiscal cliff that kept us all riveted (or not) for the month of December, but a beautiful snow covered cliff. And it got me thinking: was the fiscal cliff all much ado about nothing?
Although most of us would consider our estate planning attorney to be superhuman, the fact of the matter is that sometimes they are unable to perform their duties. In a recent case, the district court found that the physical and mental ailments of an estate planning attorney did not provide reasonable cause for the estate […]
2010 Tax Relief Act The 2010 Tax Relief Act (a.k.a. The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010) provided us with a $5 million federal estate tax exemption and a federal estate tax rate of 35%. It also introduced a feature called “portability” (see previous Epilawg articles summarizing the 2010 Tax […]
Probate, among other things, is intended “to promote a speedy and efficient system for liquidating the Estate of the Decedent and making distributions to his successors.” A traditional probate administration is neither “speedy” or “efficient” for a small estate; therefore, Minnesota law provides an alternative if the net value of the Decedent’s probate assets do […]
Are you and your spouse both U.S. citizens? If not, the foreign citizenship of you and/or your spouse may have a surprising estate tax impact. THE MARITAL DEDUCTION If an individual’s estate exceeds the estate tax exemption amount ($1 million for federal and Minnesota estate taxes in 2011, if no Congressional action), he or she […]
Business succession planning is an important issue that should be addressed not only as part of an individual business owner’s estate planning process, but also by all of the owners of family-owned and closely-held businesses. Whether a business is owned by a single individual or a large group of investors or family members, everyone with […]
Almost all of my non-lawyer friends give me a funny look when I talk about probate. Yes, it is an odd word, but with a short explanation, it makes sense. I find that the basics can be easily explained in one sentence – Probate occurs when someone dies and a court gives someone else (the […]
Do not miss out on an unprecedented retirement and estate planning opportunity. During 2010, converting “traditional” IRA accounts into “Roth” IRA accounts present some unique opportunities. TRADITIONAL vs. ROTH A traditional IRA is an individually-owned retirement account in which the owner can receive a tax deduction upon the contribution of assets (maximum of $5,000 for […]
The current year has been and still is a chaotic year in the area of estate planning. Currently, there is no federal estate tax. And, what will ultimately happen to the federal estate tax is still unknown. How did we get here? The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) provided […]