As we get closer to the repeal of the New Jersey Estate Tax on January 1, 2018, it is important to remember that New Jersey has NOT gotten rid of its inheritance tax. Accordingly, if you wish to leave money to brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, friends or a significant other (besides a spouse) and if […]
NJ Special Needs Trusts: Can the Trustee Buy Clothing? Although the federal government clearly changed the rules in 2005 to allow a Trustee of a First Party Special Needs Trust to buy an unlimited amount of clothing for person receiving Medicaid and SSI, there is still a lot of confusion regarding this issue in New […]
I was talking to another estate planning recently and discussing how much of our work involves assisting clients who have blended families. Blended families generally refers to clients who are married but at least one of the spouses has a child from a previous relationship. In comparing stories and ways that we can assist clients, […]
Recently I gave a lecture on the valuation of trusts. While I am not an accountant nor am I a valuation expert, I live and breathe trusts… and frequently the question comes up, what is value of a particular beneficiary’s interest in a trust. Keep in mind, just because a trust is worth $1M, it […]
The IRS has released new regulations that have extended the due date for filing Form 8971 to March 31, 2016. Executors and administrators of estates that are required to file a federal Form 706 Estate Tax Return are now also required to file Form 8971 and report the basis of the assets included in the […]
A number of years ago I wrote about the dangers of accidentally triggering a Compromise Tax in New Jersey and in Pennsylvania. It occurs to me that most dynasty trusts are set up to go to children, grandchildren and more remote descendants, but there is also boilerplate that says if the Grantor doesn’t have any living […]
From time to time, people ask me about trustee and executor commissions in New Jersey. Because it is a bit complex, I have broken it down into two posts and I will focus on administrator and executor commissions today. To start, a Will can specifically provide for an executor’s commission. In that absence of expressly authorizing a […]
One of the biggest misconceptions people have about life insurance is how it should be taxed. Most people think that they can receive the proceeds completely tax free. Upon the death of the insured, the beneficiary of a policy can almost always receive the proceeds without paying an income tax. However, estate taxes and inheritance […]