In a recent case that is a cautionary tale to preparers of federal estate tax returns, the Tax Court held that the IRS was permitted to examine the estate tax return of the first spouse to die in determining the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount (DSUE) available to the estate…
Real estate is oftentimes one of the more valuable assets an individual may own, and thus can comprise a substantial asset in the estate following an individual’s death. Typically, it is the personal representative of the estate who has responsibility to dispose of a decedent’s real estate.1 Real estate can…
Mary Pat Magee discusses the increased NJ estate tax exemption and impending elimination in the New Jersey Law Journal article “NJ Estate Tax Phaseout Hasn’t Haunted T&E Practices”. Mary Pat says “We’ve always been faced with a planning environment full of tax uncertainty” as she recalls her early days when…
In June of this year, the IRS published a revenue procedure that allows certain estates to make a late portability election if a timely election was not made. Rev. Proc. 2017-34. The portability election allows a decedent’s unused basic exclusion amount (known as the deceased spousal exclusion amount, or DSUE)…
In Clark v. Rameker, the United States Supreme Court held that an inherited IRA does not fall within the definition of retirement funds under Federal Bankruptcy law and is, therefore, not exempt from claims in a bankruptcy proceeding. This decision had a considerable impact upon the estate planning world. It…
A previous article appearing in Planning Matters discussed the use of lifetime gifts to reduce New Jersey estate taxes. The article pointed out that although there can be advantages to lifetime gifts, there are situations where embarking on a lifetime gifting program in New Jersey is ill-advised. This article will…
On October 14, 2016, Governor Christie signed a bill that raises the gasoline tax 23 cents per gallon, effective November 1, 2016. There will also be a reduction in the sales tax from 7% to 6.625%, to be phased in over two years. Other provisions of the new law have…
New Jersey has been widely recognized as among the more onerous states in terms of transfers at death. While federal and state death tax laws have been loosened over the past many years so as to exempt more and more people from estate and inheritance taxes1, New Jersey has not…
In today’s society, it’s becoming increasingly common for our pets to be treated as part of the family…but what happens to your pet or pets upon your death when you are no longer there to care for them? In the eyes of the law, animals are considered property…so you can’t…
We live in a digital age. The advent of the personal computer, the rise of social media, online access to financial accounts and commerce, and the development of increasingly efficient programs and applications affording easy access to our finances, shopping, entertainment activities, and communications, have helped to create a world…