In what undoubtedly is welcome news to trustees of Connecticut irrevocable trusts, effective January 1, 2025, Connecticut will join the growing list of states that specifically authorize “decanting” the assets of an otherwise irrevocable trust into a new trust with improved terms. While most Connecticut practitioners believe that decanting has always been available under Connecticut
In an ever-evolving landscape, it’s crucial to audit an estate plan and ensure it keeps pace with your life. On this episode, Partners Erin Nicholls and Michael Clear dive into the importance of revisiting your estate plan, examining the impact of changes in asset levels, evolving inter-personal relationships, relocating to a new state, and changes
While historically high federal transfer tax exemptions remain in effect, the Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (“SLAT”) (also sometimes referred to as a Spousal Estate Reduction Trust, or “SERT”) remains one of the most effective planning techniques for married clients.
Congratulations, you just signed your Will and your Revocable Trust. You set out clear directions on how your assets should pass at your death. Your heirs will be grateful. But there is more you can do to ease the burden of estate administration – you can fund your Revocable Trust while you are alive. Set
A directed trust is a sophisticated planning technique that divides the traditional duties of a trustee among more than one person or institution. Unlike a standard trust with multiple co-trustees, all of whom would share the same duties, a directed trust makes each “trust director” responsible for a different type of task on behalf of
Life insurance can be a valuable estate planning tool for generational wealth planning, creating liquidity and time diversification. On this week’s episode, Michael Clear and special guest Sarah Moore, Director of Advisor Relations at the Coyle Company, a firm that handles estate planning and business planning matters, discuss the importance of reviewing existing life insurance
Ready to kick off the New Year and make good on all those estate planning resolutions? On this first episode of 2024, Partners Erin Nicholls and Michael Clear highlight the estate planning opportunities resulting from changes in estate, gift and generation-skipping tax exemptions and discuss why 2024 is a good year to consider making big
This memorandum is designed to outline some of the basic administrative steps to be followed by the Trustee of an irrevocable life insurance trust (hereinafter referred to as an “ILIT” or the “Trust”). When properly implemented and administered, an ILIT prevents the imposition of estate tax on any life insurance policies owned by the Trust
A personal residence can be an ideal asset to gift to a properly designed trust for your descendants or other beneficiaries.
The basic concept is deceptively simple: Parent establishes an irrevocable trust for the benefit of children, thereby locking in use of Parent’s lifetime gift exemption as a hedge against a reduction in the exemption
GRATs Allow Transfer of Wealth Outside Your Estate With Minimal or No Gift Tax
Now is a good time to consider wealth transfer strategies that remove assets from your taxable estate. A common strategy is a grantor retained annuity trust, commonly referred to as a GRAT.
Description. A GRAT is a strategy that freezes the