Clearwater, Florida Estate Planning Blog
A New Will and Revoking Your Old Trust… The Devil is in the Details!
Many individuals have created revocable trusts that no longer meet their needs or they do not want a trust. They do not care about “avoiding” probate and some actually want court supervision! What happens if an old revocable trust is not properly revoked or, having...
NEW.. Final Regulations Issued for Portability
As I have mentioned in a previous blog the concept of portability enables a surviving spouse to take advantage of his or her deceased spouse’s unused exemption (“DSUE”) amount. For example, if Sue dies and only uses 2 million of her 5.430 million exemption amount,...
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (“ILIT”).. still important?
Many of our clients created an ILIT to hold life insurance outside of their estate to provide liquidity to help their children pay estate taxes. Generally an ILIT is created to avoid the triggering aspects of IRC Section 2042 so life insurance on the decedent’s life...
What’s Mine Is Yours… Or Maybe Not!
Even though Florida is not a community property state, Florida does have a statute that addresses community property for residents of Florida who have moved here from a community property state. Community property can be very advantageous for tax and marital reasons....
U. S. Supreme Court Rules on Life Insurance/IRA Divorce Statute…Clarity for Practitioners and Clients
A recent blog discussed the issue in the Sveen v. Melin case which has now been decided by the Supreme Court of the United States (the “Court”). The Court determined that a Minnesota statute (similar to Florida’s statute) is constitutional under the Contracts Clause...
Linda on a manatee rescue…fun clips
As some of you may know I volunteer on the Clearwater Marine Aquarium stranding team. I thought you all might enjoy a change of scenery from our normal tax and law notes so enjoy a clip of a successful manatee rescue and release!...
Have you ever wondered what all that legalese language is at the END of a lawyer’s email???
If you are like me you like short explanations and easy to read information. Many times we attorneys (yes.. me also) make it a lot more complicated than it has to be. If you notice at the end of a lawyer’s email there is a lot of language that no one reads, no one...
Inherited IRAs.. Exempt or Non-Exempt From Creditors
In a recent United States Supreme Court decision, Clark v. Rameker, Trustee, the Court determined that inherited IRAs are NOT exempt under federal bankruptcy law. The Court decided that an inherited IRA did not have the same characteristics of a “regular” IRA in...
ALWAYS Request Release from Personal Liability for Estate Taxes…It Could Save You from Catastrophic Financial Consequences!!!
In the recent case, United States v. John Michael Paulson, 2000 WL 1821022 (3.23.2020), a California Federal District ruled in favor of an executor of an estate for release from PERSONAL liability for estate taxes. John Michael Paulson (“Mike”) became an initial...
If You Are An Innocent Party, Can The IRS Foreclose On An Interest That You Own?
Under tax law, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS) has a lien on a taxpayer’s property for unpaid taxes. The U.S. Attorney can direct a civil action to enforce the lien and the court can adjudicate all matters and can direct a sale of the property and the...