Estate Planning

26 U.S. Code § 1014 provides for a step-up in cost basis on inherited property. Specific language from the section reads: “the basis of property in the hands of a person acquiring the property from a decedent or to whom the property passed from a decedent shall, if...

One topic of estate planning that we spend considerable time discussing with our clients is the succession of ownership of the client’s assets. It should not come as a surprise that almost all our clients want their assets to be passed on to their loved ones. In most...

Generally speaking, when it comes to establishing an estate plan, a Last Will & Testament is an essential document to execute. With a Will, the creator, or testator, can address many different things, but the main purpose of a Will is to provide direction as to...

IRS Rev. Proc. 2022-38 outlines the increase, for inflation, to the Federal Estate Tax Exemption for 2023, which is $12,920,000.00 per individual (compared to $12,060,00.00 in 2022), or $25,840,000.00 for a married couple (compared to $24,120,00.00 in 2022). The new...

Increasingly, our world is becoming more digital.  Email, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Yelp, Instagram, Pinterest, Vimeo, photo, video and music accounts…. the list goes on and on.  So what happens to these accounts, and more importantly, the content in these accounts,...

Estate planning is so much more than drafting a Will. Trusts, Power of Attorneys and Health Care Proxies all perform very different functions. Getting your final wishes down on paper can feel overwhelming. The truth is that this puts many people off from estate...

The more complete your estate plan, the simpler it will make things for those grieving your loss after your pass.  Setting out your own funeral wishes is one area many people overlook. There are a few ways to accomplish planning for after your death.   One way is to...

When creating an estate plan, one of the most important documents to include is a Health Care Proxy. A Health Care Proxy allows a principal to appoint an agent to make health care decision for the principal, but only when principal cannot make his or her own...

It is not uncommon for the topic of gifting to come up during a routine estate planning consultation. A grantor can accomplish different things by gifting assets. Whatever the goal, once a client expresses interest in gifting, the question inevitably becomes: How much...