Open Enrollment: Don’t Forget To Check Your Beneficiary Designations
Open enrollment is a good time to review beneficiary designations. Learn how they affect probate, taxes, retirement accounts, and estate planning.
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What Is A Grantor Trust? Taxes From A to Z®
Learn what a grantor trust is, how it’s taxed, and why revocable and irrevocable trusts can offer different income and estate tax benefits.
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New IRS Rates Are Out: Why AFRs Matter
The IRS publishes applicable federal rates (AFRs) every month. You may have even seen them on the IRS website. Most recently, the IRS posted Revenue Ruling 2026-17, which notes that, for September 2026, the annual rates are 4.18% for short-term obligations, 4.49% for mid-term obligations, and 5.12% for long-term obligations. But what exactly are AFRs—and…
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The Value of Michael Jackson’s Intellectual Property After His Death
Michael Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009, shocked the world. And the legal drama that followed shocked many tax attorneys. At the time of his death, Jackson was clearly worth millions, but the exact value of his estate was unclear. The matter eventually went to court, where a ruling found that Michael Jackson’s image and…
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How Family Wealth Planning is Evolving to Benefit Every American Family
All too often, wealth planners focus only on the dollars. From annual monetary gifts to conditional clauses in inheritance documents, family wealth planning isn’t always flexible or broadly accessible to the everyday American family. Richard and Claudia explain the importance of factoring in the family’s “well-being” when considering generational wealth and inheritance tax. With added…
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Decedents Are Receiving Stimulus Checks: What Happens Next?
(Updated May 21, 2020) Shortly after stimulus checks started going out, I began receiving inquiries from taxpayers who had received checks intended for deceased relatives. Some media outlets – and politicians – wanted to make a big deal out of this, suggesting that it was indicative of something wrong at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)….
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Ask The Taxgirl: Gift Tax Returns & Coronavirus
Taxpayer asks: Any idea whether the filing extension applies to gift tax returns? Taxgirl says: AUTHOR’S NOTE: There is (finally) official word from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on this issue: Normal filing and payment due dates continue to apply to estate and gift taxes. That said, my original reply remains below: Honestly, I don’t…
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IRS Confirms That Making Large Gifts Won’t Adversely Impact Estates
Ready to do some estate planning, but worried that the rug could be pulled out from under your feet once the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) expires? There’s some good news: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has confirmed that making large gifts now won’t harm estates after 2025. The final Regs clarity that taxpayers…
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Supreme Court Rules That Residency Is Not Sufficient To Tax Income In Trust Case
The Supreme Court issued a decision in North Carolina Department of Revenue v. The Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust—and it’s unanimous. The Court ruled that a trust beneficiary’s residence is not sufficient on its own for a state to tax a trust’s undistributed income. Here’s how the case arose. Joseph Lee Rice, III, created a…
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Taxes From A To Z (2019): G Is For Gross Estate
It’s my annual Taxes from A to Z series! This time, it’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) style. If you’re wondering whether you can claim home office expenses or whether to deduct a capital loss under the new law, you won’t want to miss a single letter. G is for Gross Estate. The word…
