New landscape for estate planning attorneys 
By:
Sylvia Hsieh
Published: January 10, 2013
Tags: estate planning, estate tax, estate tax exemption, fiscal cliff, gift tax, taxation, trusts and estates
The new law that averted the “fiscal cliff” contains major changes for estate and gift tax rules that will affect not only the advice lawyers give to their clients, but the future landscape of estate planning law for years to come.
Estate planning tools may vanish in 2013
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: August 7, 2012
Tags: estate planning, estate tax, federal law, gift tax
WASHINGTON – For estate planning attorneys, the unstable nature of federal tax law has become the new normal. But the prospect of skyrocketing estate tax rates and the potential loss of key estate planning tools with certain federal laws set to expire is spurring them to get their clients to act – and quickly.
Gift tax payments must be included in decedent’s estate
Published: May 9, 2012
Tags: gift tax, QTIP trust, Qualifying Terminable Interest in Property trust, taxation
Gift taxes paid by the donee trustees of a Qualifying Terminable Interest in Property (QTIP) trust should have been included in the transferor’s gross estate for purposes of calculating federal estate tax, the 9th Circuit has ruled in affirming judgment.
A gift to ‘y’all’ must be shared between husband and wife
Published: January 17, 2012
Tags: gift tax, marital property, Virginia
When a wife’s father said that a $15,000 payment was for “y’all,” he made a joint gift to the couple, despite his later testimony that he intended only to help his daughter, a Virginia trial court has ruled.
Estate planning lawyers get tons of work from new tax law
By:
Sylvia Hsieh
Published: March 16, 2011
Tags: estate planning, estate tax, gift tax, IRA, Obama, retirement planning, Roth IRA
The new tax law, which contains changes to estate, gift and income tax rules, should keep estate planning attorneys busy advising clients on retirement planning for at least the next two years.
Estate planning clients seek gift-giving guidance in 2010
By:
Correy Stephenson
Published: September 15, 2010
Tags: estate planning, estate tax, generation-skipping tax, gift tax, taxation, trusts and estates
This has been an unusual year for estate planners.
The lack of a federal estate tax, and the uncertainty about whether it will return, has encouraged some clients to transfer their wealth by making gifts.
