Do you own a house with someone and don’t want to register as domestic partners, but you still want an exclusion from a change in ownership for property tax purposes when you die? Now you can. Here’s how it works. (more…)
Filed under: Estate Planning, Legal Topics, Real Property, Tax Law | Tagged: change in home ownership, coowner, cotenant, domestic partners, property tax, property tax reassessment, same-sex couples | 1 Comment »
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA-2012) (Pub L 112-240, 126 Stat 2313) allows IRA owners to make retroactive direct distributions to charity for 2012. It could be a good deal for you or your clients, but you have to act by January 31, 2013—this week!—to take advantage of it.
Filed under: Elder Law, Estate Planning, Tax Law | Tagged: American Taxpayer Relief Act, charitable deduction, charitable donation, income tax, Individual Retirement Account, IRA | 2 Comments »
Updated January 4, 2013: The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 restores the original 3 percent phaseout of itemized deductions for income above $300,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly and $250,000 for single taxpayers. The Act also restores the 39.6 percent top rate for income above $450,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly and $400,000 for single taxpayers.
Most readers are aware that many provisions of the tax law “sunset” or expire at the end of 2012 if nothing happens before the end of the year. One little-noticed provision could help both sides move beyond the current impasse. (more…)
Filed under: Estate Planning, Legal Topics, New Legal Developments, Tax Law | Tagged: American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, fiscal cliff, high-income taxpayers, Pease phase out, tax law, tax rates | 2 Comments »
Updated: The Supreme Court heard oral argument in Windsor v U.S. on March 27, 2013, with negative implications for domestic partners, as discussed in the April 2013 issue of CEB’s Estate Planning & California Probate Reporter.
The U. S. Supreme Court’s grant of review in Windsor v U.S. puts the marital deduction in doubt for same-sex surviving spouses but it doesn’t change the advice: for now, practitioners should keep filing estate tax returns claiming the marital deduction until someone tells them to stop. (more…)
Filed under: Estate Planning, Family Law, Legal Topics, Tax Law | Tagged: DOMA, domestic partnerships, Estate Planning, estate tax, IRS, marital deduction, registered domestic parternships, same-sex marriage, Windsor | 6 Comments »
The unexpectedly decisive re-election of President Obama, and the apparent stability of his electoral coalition, confronts estate planners with a new political reality. Here are my thoughts on where tax law is likely to go. (more…)
Filed under: Elder Law, Estate Planning, New Legal Developments, Tax Law | Tagged: capital gains, charitable gift, Estate Planning, estate tax, estate tax exemption, gift tax, gift tax exemption, tax planning, taxes | Leave a Comment »
It’s hard to argue that a decedent who died at home was a resident of somewhere else, but the estate of Marilyn Monroe, who was found dead in her Brentwood home in 1962, has always maintained that she was a domiciliary of New York. The estate’s executor took that position in probate proceedings and in dealings with California tax authorities, which found that most of Monroe’s assets were exempt from state inheritance taxes. But now Monroe’s heirs are claiming she was domiciled in California because they prefer California law on the right of publicity. (more…)
Filed under: Business, Estate Planning, Legal Topics, New Legal Developments, Tax Law | Tagged: domicile, inheritance, judicial estoppel, Marilyn Monroe, posthumous right of publicity, right of publicity | 2 Comments »
If you are skilled and fortunate enough to get a nice monetary recovery for your client in an employment case, you need to understand what part of that recovery is taxable. From your client’s perspective, this issue will be critical. (more…)
Filed under: Employment Law, Legal Topics, Tax Law | Tagged: damages, employees, employers, employment claims, employment lawsuit, gross income, IRS, judgment, recovery, settlement, tax, taxable income, wrongful termination | 4 Comments »
After a 5-year delay, the State Board of Equalization (BOE) is again moving to eliminate a loophole that allows property owners to avoid reassessment by the transfer of joint tenancy interests through a trust to a person not eligible for exclusion as a spouse, registered domestic partner, parent, or child of the transferor. (more…)
Filed under: Estate Planning, Legal Topics, Real Property, Tax Law | Tagged: Board of Equalization, joint tenancy, property assessment, real property transfer, reassessment, tenancy | Leave a Comment »
You may think that the 20% tip you leave when you are out for a romantic dinner for two is the same as the 18% service charge the restaurant adds to your bill when you have a celebratory dinner for eight, but there’s a difference. A new IRS ruling shines a light on this sometimes confusing area. (more…)
Filed under: Employment Law, Legal Topics, Tax Law | Tagged: FICA, IRS, payroll, service charge, taxable wages, tip | 3 Comments »
If an inherited artwork is illegal to sell, should the beneficiaries of the artwork be taxed on a value of zero or on the appraised value as if the artwork were legally salable, or possibly somewhere in between? That’s the issue in a case discussed in a recent New York Times article and it raises an interesting debate among experts on estate taxation. (more…)
Filed under: Estate Planning, Legal Topics, Tax Law | Tagged: Art Advisory Panel, bald eagle, charitable donation, estate tax, illegal artwork, IRS, taxation | 5 Comments »
