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
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
On this episode, join Partners Erin Nicholls and Michael Clear as they discuss key considerations when addressing Generation-Skipping Transfer (GST) Tax. With a particular focus on interesting planning opportunities and things to look out for when addressing GST tax, Erin and Michael emphasize the importance of thinking strategically about GST tax and its effects on
With educational expenses on the rise, planning for your children’s education while they are still young is usually advisable. Many families find that a “section 529 education savings plan,” or more commonly known as a “529 plan,” works well for this purpose, but there are potential
On this episode, join Partners Erin Nicholls and Michael Clear as they discuss strategies for preserving family legacy assets across generations. With a particular focus on the management and division of interests in real property, such as family compounds and homesteads, Erin and Michael discuss considerations related to carrying costs, ownership structures, bloodline protection and
Courts are often reluctant to enforce no-contest clauses in estate and probate matters. As noted in our prior alert on the Connecticut Appellate Court case Salce v. Cardello, even where the terms of the no-contest clause appear to have been breached, the enforcement of a no-contest clause can be
On this episode, join Partners Erin Nicholls and Michael Clear as they delve deeper into a discussion on creating SLATs for married clients to use up both clients’ lifetime exemption amounts, while also reducing the likelihood of the imposition of the Reciprocal Trust Doctrine by the IRS. Citing several examples, Erin and Michael provide strategies
On this episode, join Partners Erin Nicholls and Michael Clear as they discuss one of the hottest topics in the estate planning world, spousal lifetime access trusts (SLATs), and the implications of using SLATs in a post-Tax Cuts and Jobs Act world. Focusing primarily on maximizing the use of one’s lifetime exemption amount and removing