Each year, Greensfelder hosts a fall Estate Planning Symposium that addresses recent developments in estate planning. At the 2019 symposium, Trusts & Estates attorney Keith Herman presented on recent developments in asset protection.
As a follow-up to Keith’s presentation, we are pleased to present a three-part blog series that touches upon the lessons learned from
As the cost of college education has skyrocketed, more and more grandparents are wondering how they can help their grandchildren pay for college. Below is an overview of five ways in which grandparents can contribute toward a grandchild’s education, as well as tips on pitfalls to avoid.
1. Pay tuition directly
Grandparents can pay some
With the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in December 2017, the nearly doubling of the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption (currently $11.4 million in 2019) shifted the focus for many from estate tax planning to income tax planning. A wide range of income tax planning techniques can now be used
Retirement accounts are a seemingly simple and effective way to protect assets from future creditors, but the subtle nuances of what is protected under Missouri law and what is protected in bankruptcy can be complex. In the July/August 2019 edition of the Journal of the Missouri Bar, attorneys Keith Herman and Jeffrey Herman analyze how
For the parents of students entering college this fall, you may have a long checklist of to-do items already. It’s possible you are missing one of the most important items, though: Having your child sign estate planning documents.
Why is this important?
Once your child turns 18, you will no longer have the right to
On July 12, 2019, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed House Bill HB1471, which enacts the Illinois Trust Code (ITC) and repeals many of Illinois’ current trust statutes. The ITC was effective as of Jan. 1, 2020. Below is a brief overview.
The ITC generally conforms with the Uniform
On May 23, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives, by a vote of 417 to 3, passed legislation called Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, or the SECURE Act. This legislation, if passed by the Senate and signed by the president, will cause significant changes for retirement planning, many of which
On June 21, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided in favor of a taxpayer trust, finding that the state of North Carolina could not tax the trust merely because a trust beneficiary, who received no trust income or right to demand income, resided in North Carolina.
In North Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kimberley
How many times have you prepared your income tax returns for the previous year, only wishing you knew then what you know now, so you could go back and make more advantageous tax decisions? In most cases, you are stuck with the decisions you made before the new tax year began, even though you
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 brought a myriad of changes to the tax law, including for individual taxpayers. While certain deductions that were available to individuals have now been limited — e.g., the $10,000 limit on the state and local income tax (SALT) deduction — the standard deduction has increased to $24,000