Lawyers of Distinction is pleased to announce that Donald S. Hendel, with an office in North Haven, Connecticut, has been certified as a member. Lawyers of Distinction is recognized as the fastest growing community of distinguished lawyers in the United States. Lawyers of Distinction does not offer membership to more than 10% of attorneys in any given state. Members are accepted based upon objective evaluation of an attorney’s qualifications, license, reputation, experience, and disciplinary history. Please see www.lawyersofdistinction.com for further details concerning membership qualification.
0 Comments
Many times a person who is sued owns one or more significant life insurance policies. If a lawsuit against the insured is successful, the life insurance policies could be subject to the claims of the successful plaintiff.
One way to protect a valuable life insurance policy from the claims of a creditor is to place the policy into a life insurance trust. The insured’s spouse and descendants may be beneficiaries of the trust. During the insured’s lifetime, all of the assets held by the trust, including any life insurance policies, are not subject to the claims of the insured’s creditors. May 21, 2018. On May 15, 2018, Connecticut increased its estate and gift tax exemptions. The exemptions are as follows:
2018 $2,600,000 2019 $3,600,000 2020 $5,100,000 2021 $7,100,000 2022 $9,100,000 2023 and thereafter equal to federal exemption, currently $11,180,000 The recently passed budget contains, among other things, an increase to the Connecticut estate tax exemption that will be phased in over several years. For decedents who die in 2018, the exemption will be $2,600,000; for decedents who die in 2019, the exemption will be $3,600,000; for decedents who die in 2020 or thereafter, the exemption will be equal to the federal estate tax exemption.
The IRS recently announced inflation adjustments for more than 50 tax provisions. Among these are that the federal estate tax exclusion for a decedent who dies in 2018 will be $5,600,000. The annual gift tax exclusion for 2018 will be $15,000.
In the https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Documents/Tax-Framework.pdf (Sept. 27, 2017), the President and Congressional Republicans provided a framework of their tax reform proposal, which includes repeal of the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes. The proposal would:
In the past many financial institutions refused to honor a power of attorney that was more than a couple of years old, or in some cases refused to honor a power of attorney that was recently executed. In response to these concerns, the Connecticut legislature recently enacted Public Act 17 – 91. This act provides that, effective October 1, 2017 a financial institution or healthcare provider must accept a properly executed power of attorney or appointment of health care agent. If the institution or provider refuses to accept the document, the institution or provider is subject to a court order mandating acceptance of the document as well as liability for attorney’s fees and costs incurred in obtaining the court order. Public Act 17 – 91 applies to a power of attorney or appointment of health care agent signed prior to the Act.
Connecticut has adopted a new LLC act that will be effective July 1, 2017. Many of the changes from current law are technical and/or minor. However, there are two changes that have major implications for creditor protection planning in Connecticut. There are also significant changes in the duties that managers and members owe to the LLC and each other.
House and Senate Republicans recently introduced legislation to repeal the federal estate tax. The legislation would repeal the estate tax and the generation skipping tax. The gift tax would be retained, however the top tax rate would be reduced to 35%. The present step up in basis rules would be retained so that if a decedent's assets were sold, the heirs would pay income tax only on post date of death appreciation.
The IRS recently issued regulations that affect the reporting responsibilities of an estate executor or administrator. If an executor is required to file a federal estate tax return, they must also file with the IRS a separate form stating the value of certain items included in the decedent's estate. Each beneficiary who receives property from the decedent must receive information regarding the property he or she receives or could receive. This requirement applies to all estates if the required estate tax return is filed after July 31, 2015.
|
AuthorMr. Hendel has been practicing wealth preservation planning for over forty years. Archives
September 2022
Categories
All
|