We have been successful in adding some attorneys here at GPM in our Estate Planning and Individual Wealth Management group. I wanted to introduce them to you. Julia Leary. Through a connection at Texas A&M Law School, we were introduced to Julia Leary. She has been a real find! Julia was involved in a clinic…
Category: Trusts
UPDATE on Reporting by Almost All Companies
In an earlier edition of this newsletter, I told you about the Corporate Transparency Act and the requirement that almost all companies will have to file reports, beginning January 1, 2024, with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network aka FinCEN, which is part of the Department of the Treasury (website is at fincen.gov). Basically, any organization…
New Texas Rule Against Perpetuities
The Texas Legislature has passed HB 654, which is a Bill that does only one thing – it amends Section 112.036 of the Texas Trust Code (a part of the Texas Property Code). It’s on to the Governor, presumably for his signature. Section 112.036 sets out the maximum time that a trust, other than a…
Texas Homestead Creditor Protection and Trusts
Two weeks ago, I wrote about the In re Cyr case out of the Bankruptcy Court in San Antonio. That court held that a home inside a trust was not protected from creditors under the Property Code because the trust did not allow the debtor to live in the home “at no cost.” Instead the…
Homesteads in Trust – In Re Cyr Reversed
Homesteads in Trust Safe from Creditors If… In 2019, the Bankruptcy Court in San Antonio issued an opinion in the case of In re Cyr holding that a home inside a trust was not protected from creditors under the Property Code and the Texas Homestead Exemption. The reason was that the language in the trust…
BIG (?) Retirement Plan Changes
If you have a retirement plan (IRA, 401(k), profit sharing plan, etc.) payable to your children or grandchildren (or trusts for them), this could be a VERY BIG CHANGE for you. As busy as life is, this deserves your attention now. Congress has been working on keeping the government open. To do that, it needed…
Inflation Adjusted 2020 Figures Announced
The IRS has announced the inflation adjustments for the estate and gift tax exclusion, the generation-skipping transfer tax exemption, the gift tax exclusion and other estate planning numbers for 2020. The estate and gift tax exclusion amounts will be $11,580,000. This year, it is $11,400,000, so that is an increase of $180,000. The generation-skipping transfer…
Taxpayer Wins in Kaestner – Beneficiaries’ Residence Alone is Insufficient to Justify State Tax on Trust Income
On June 21, 2019, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in North Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kimberly Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust (no. 18-457)(https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/18-457_2034.pdf). The issue in the case was whether the state of North Carolina could tax the income of the trust based solely on the North Carolina residence of…
Texas Legislative Update
Hundreds of bills are filed in the Texas Legislature every time it meets. Only a few make it to the Governor’s desk. Here are a few that have and have not been well publicized. Following a brief explanation of each bill, you’ll find a link to the bill on the Texas Legislature’s website. Expanded Exemptions…
Applicable Federal Rates for June 2019
On May 16, the IRS announced the applicable federal rates for June 2019 in Rev.Rul. 2019-14. The Section 7520 rate remains at 2.8% (still a good time to consider GRATs). The annual short-term, midterm and long-term rates are up slightly to 2.37%, 2.38% and 2.76%. That Revenue Ruling can be found here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-19-14.pdf