From the enforcement of federal tax liens against a trust found to be the taxpayer’s nominee to the United States Supreme Court’s ruling that highly compensated workers may be entitled to overtime pay, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Written by Jeremiah W. Doyle IV, JD, LLM

Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) section 6166 allows an executor to defer the payment of the federal estate tax attributable to the interest in a closely held business. The deferred payments may be extended over a period of up to fourteen years and nine months following the death of the business owner. With an estate tax exemption of $12.06 million in 2022, many estates can pass free of federal estate tax, making a section 6166 election unnecessary for the value of a business interest included in the gross estate. However, with the estate, gift, and generation skipping tax exemption scheduled to be reduced to $5 million (indexed for inflation) beginning January 1, 2026, a section 6166 election may become valuable for more estates holding an interest in a closely held business. Thus, it is probably time to dust off a copy of section 6166 and review its complex and somewhat ambiguous provisions.

Experienced and effective leadership is a key component of long-term business success. However, only 35 percent of businesses have a formalized succession plan—a startling statistic considering that retiring Baby Boomers will comprise the largest exit from the workforce in US history. Whether you own your practice or advise business-owning clients, succession planning is vital to ensure a smooth transition. Keep reading to learn some top techniques and considerations to keep in mind.

The Challenges of Planning the Client’s Legacy of Place and Togetherness

Written by Timothy Borchers

The vacation home . . . It evokes an image of family and friends enjoying time together at a cottage or cabin, lodge or ranch, somewhere away from it all—the lakeside or seaside, in the country, or on the slopes—in a scene that is repeated year after year. 

It could be a Hyannis Port compound like the Kennedys’ or equivalent to Shrek’s shack in the swamp, but more likely, it is something in between. Regardless of whether it is modest or upscale, when everyone from Grandpa down to the youngest grandkid says in a giddy moment, “This place is awesome! I hope we can enjoy it forever!”, it is not just a home, it is an heirloom property.

From the SECURE 2.0 Act’s changes for special needs trusts to the Federal Trade Commission’s issuance of a proposed rule banning noncompetition clauses, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

The Virtual Conference for Experienced Estate Planners Returns

Our next Advanced Estate Planning Summit is around the corner! This Summit will address sophisticated estate planning strategies and topics of interest—from trust protectors and charitable tax planning, to grantor retained annuity trust (GRATs) and beneficiary deemed owner trusts (BDOTs). This is your chance to hear from nationally-recognized speakers, earn up to 5 CLE credits, and gain practical insights to use immediately in your practice.

The start of a new year often means setting goals to improve your business and increase your firm’s revenue. There are many ways to reach these goals, such as gaining new clients and adding new services. However, it is important that you not overlook your existing client base as a source of growth. One way to leverage your current client base and provide them with maximum value is to institute a client maintenance program. Establishing such a program can improve your client relationships, allow you to provide better service, and generate consistent revenue for your law practice. Read on to learn about client maintenance programs and how to establish them.

Rising inflation has led the US government to increase the estate and gift tax exclusion amounts for 2023. This is a perfect time for estate planning attorneys to talk to their clients about taking advantage of innovative strategies, while keeping an eye on larger changes that are coming at the end of 2025. Keep reading to learn the new amounts and ideas to help your clients. 

From the enactment of the SECURE 2.0 Act to the issuance of a proposed rule on access to beneficial ownership information under the Corporate Transparency Act, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

A Review of Estate Planning Techniques for High and Low Rate Environments

Written by Emily A. Plocki, JD, LL.M and Anna Katherine Moody, JD, LL.M

We are in a time when economic factors such as volatile financial markets and fluctuating interest rates combine to impact the effectiveness of a variety of estate planning techniques. From 2009 through 2021, interest rates sank to and remained at historic lows. However, due to various economic pressures, rates are on the rise, and it is important for clients and advisors to consider the estate planning opportunities that are most effective in the changing interest rate environment. Certain planning strategies and structures work best when interest rates are high compared to those that are implemented in low interest rate environments. While the current uncertain environment may—understandably—cause clients to hesitate to engage in a significant gifting regime, clients should review their balance sheets with their attorneys and financial advisors and discuss whether any of the planning structures described below provide an attractive planning opportunity for the client’s particular circumstances. 

From the US Tax Court setting aside Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Notice 2017-10 to clarification of an employer's obligation under the Fair Labor Standards Act to compensate employees for certain preshift duties, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

There are many ways to provide for a married client’s surviving spouse after the client’s death. This type of estate planning is often referred to as marital share funding. Spouses may use various marital share funding options in either will- or trust-based estate plans. Their goals may include estate tax planning, probate avoidance (especially when using a trust-based plan), and incapacity planning. Disclaimers can be used when planning for estate taxes and may be particularly helpful in other situations relevant to married clients. 

The new year is the perfect time to reassess your estate planning practice. Consider what worked well for you in 2022, what did not work well, and what goals you were unable to achieve. Set new goals for your practice and yourself. The end of the year can bring excitement of what is to come: new clients are waiting to connect with you, as many will make a New Year’s resolution to create or update their estate plan. 

Keep reading to learn some helpful tips to connect with new clients and elevate your practice to new heights in 2023.

In the course of a trust administration, beneficiaries primarily want to know what will be distributed to them and when it will be distributed. Attorneys who represent trustees, however, must prevent trust distributions until the proper time—that is, until all liabilities have been paid or reasonably accounted for with a reserve. Otherwise, a trustee may face personal liability and need to seek indemnity from beneficiaries who may have already spent the funds distributed to them. In a postdeath administration, there may be trust and nontrust liabilities (or the decedent’s liabilities), including the decedent’s debts and various taxes. In addition, a trustee must pay the expenses of the administration or reserve funds for payment of those expenses. 

From the announcement of the 2023 limits on contributions to retirement accounts to a new proposed rule for classifying independent contractors, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practices.

The number of blended families is increasing, as more than 1,300 form every day. In these types of families, one or both spouses have children from previous relationships and they may have children together. Working with blended families will be a common scenario for you as an estate planning attorney (if it is not already), and each family’s plan will be different. The goals of individual family members may be at odds, as not all blended will look like an episode of The Brady Bunch or Modern Family. 

Estate planning and business law attorneys often advise their clients to form a limited liability company (LLC). An LLC provides flexibility and protection from lawsuits for the LLC’s members. You can add value by helping your business-owner clients through this process. Your expertise will make a difference to the success of your clients’ businesses, especially when it comes to drafting their operating agreements. 

A revocable living trust (RLT) is often the best vehicle to preserve an estate planning client’s assets and avoid probate court. However, the process of getting all of the client’s assets safely into the trust (a process called funding) can be laborious. Leaving the process to the client or doing it yourself both have their pros and cons. Keep reading to find out whether you should handle the funding process and learn the best ways to fund your client’s RLT.  

From the announcement of the projected 2023 estate and gift tax exclusion amounts to newly issued final regulations implementing the Corporate Transparency Act, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practices.

Whether plagued by poor reviews or buried in search engine obscurity, many small law firms and solo practitioners need a marketing makeover. There are countless reasons why a law firm lacks exposure, but attorneys must overcome the obstacles to gain online exposure and build a client base. With the right tools, attorneys can improve their marketing presence, even if that means starting from square one.

The hourly billing model has become a thing of the past for many estate planning attorneys, who have shifted to more modern pricing strategies. Providing clients with a clear picture of the costs of retaining you makes sense, especially for solo practitioners and those in small firms. Many attorneys offer several value-based price points that move away from a time-based model to one that represents what is actually delivered to the client. Read on to learn the benefits of innovative pricing models and how to implement them in your law practice.

Real property is the primary asset in many estate plans, and it warrants special attention. The distribution of cash and family heirlooms is relatively straightforward compared to real estate, which is often accompanied by a mortgage and insurance. As an estate planning attorney, you should use caution when transferring real property to a trust or to entities such as limited liability companies (LLCs) due to the many moving parts. Read on to learn about three mistakes to avoid when transferring real property.

From the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS’s) reversal of its position on estate tax deductions for certain unitrust interests of charitable remainder unitrusts (CRUTs) to newly enacted pay transparency laws, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Cryptocurrency’s decentralized nature has changed the world of global finance. However, because it is so new and volatile, the crypto market’s dizzying ups and downs can be difficult to interpret. Is the recent “crypto winter” just one of these regular fluctuations, or does it indicate permanent problems with the viability of crypto? Virtual assets may now be a significant component of your estate planning clients’ portfolios, so keep reading to learn more about the future of these investments.

Trust administration is a complicated process with many moving parts. As you represent the trustee, you must keep in mind the needs and demands of the trust beneficiaries. Though there may be pressure to make trust distributions as quickly as possible, your top priority should be to make sure all of the necessary tasks are completed—and in the proper order. Keep reading for tips on how to make the trust asset allocation and distribution processes go smoothly.

Back-to-school is a busy time for parents, especially those who are sending their kids to college for the first time. As an estate planning attorney, you know that a person’s 18th birthday has even more implications than moving into a dorm room and registering for college classes. While this can be an emotional, life-changing time for both clients and their children, now is the ideal time for you to reach out to clients, leads, and referral sources to help families adapt to the new legal reality at the milestone of adulthood. Read on to learn more about how estate planning for young adults can give the entire family peace of mind.

From the Internal Revenue Service’s extension of time to use the simplified method for electing portability to the enforceability of modifications to click-wrap agreements, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Piercing the corporate veil is a legal concept that involves separating the business entity from its owner, allowing the owner to be protected from personal liability for the business’s debts. The applicable law can be nebulous, and protection against personal liability may not always be available, especially if a single owner of a business uses personal funds to run the company—or uses the business’s funds for their own purposes. A recent legal case from North Dakota illustrates some of the factors that determine whether the business is operating separately or merely as the alter ego of its owner. Read on to learn more.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently extended the time to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion (DSUE) amount for estates not otherwise required to file an estate tax return. After getting swamped with extension requests from taxpayers who missed the two-year deadline, the IRS announced that it would allow five years to make a late claim on portability. Read on to learn more about this change and how it applies to your estate planning clients.

Limited liability companies are typically run by a sole member or some or all of its members. However, sometimes it is best for a limited liability company (LLC) to be managed by a third party nonmember manager. Keep reading to learn how to advise your business-owning clients about when to consider using a nonmember manager. 

Interest rates have been climbing steadily throughout 2022, as the Federal Reserve System continues to battle an inflation rate that recently reached a forty-year high. This economic environment lends itself to certain estate planning strategies that take advantage of high interest rates. Keep reading to learn which estate planning tactics are best when interest rates are elevated.

From the Internal Revenue Service’s Dirty Dozen tax schemes to the standard applicable to waiver in federal arbitration cases, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Practicing law can sometimes seem like just that: practice. You may wonder, when will the meaningful work begin? If you feel like you are simply accomplishing tasks and checking items off your to-do list, maybe your law career needs something new. Are you feeling burned out or longing to start your own practice? If you are looking for a future in which you get to perform work that matters to you while maintaining a life outside the office, estate planning may be a good fit, and it has several advantages if you need a new direction. Keep reading to learn more about this fulfilling area of the law.

As an estate planner, you should always be attuned to your clients’ goals, especially when estate and gift tax laws change. WealthCounsel conducted a survey with the help of Trusts & Estates magazine and Informa Engage of more than 500 estate planning professionals to gain insight into estate planning trends. The survey results revealed several popular goals for 2022, relating to large lifetime gifts, the upcoming sunset of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and the deceased spousal unused exclusion (DSUE) amount. Read on to learn about clients’ estate planning goals.

Running a law practice can be challenging, but fortunately, there are a variety of technological tools that can make it easier. These solutions can help you manage your client relationships, save time with scheduling, design email marketing strategies, automate webinars, and create consistent branding. Doing things the old-fashioned way may be comfortable, but you can gain time and money by taking advantage of business efficiency solutions. Keep reading to learn more. 

While the SECURE (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) Act became law in late 2019, the Internal Revenue Service has only recently proposed how to implement it. The 275 pages of regulations have not yet been finalized, but their publication affects many estate planning clients.  These rules are a moving target, so it is important to learn about them from the source rather than relying on the expertise of custodians or financial advisors.

From the unenforceability of arbitration clauses in trusts to the applicability of the Americans with Disabilities Act to small businesses, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Estate planners have needs and concerns that change each year. That is why WealthCounsel teamed up with Trusts & Estates magazine and Informa Engage to conduct an annual survey of more than 500 estate planning professionals. 

This year’s major topics included cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens (NFTs); referral sources; and the upcoming sunset of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Read on for details about the survey results.

Many participants of the Great Resignation decided to not only leave their jobs, but to also start their own businesses. Business startups surged 53 percent last year to 5.4 million, the highest number on record of any year. These new business owners need help with legal documents and business planning, providing attorneys with a new source of clients. Even if estate planning is your focus, understanding how to help new and aspiring business owners can grow your practice. Keep reading to learn more about how to reach and serve these potential clients.

Memorial Day reminds us of the sacrifices that members of the armed forces and their families make every day in service to our country. Military families are a unique demographic; however, they have estate planning needs like everyone else. Due to the nature of their work, military families often experience frequent moves, and while they have access to several forms of government benefits, they can also be subject to some unusual tax rules. Additionally, their risk of deployment into active combat presents a heightened level of urgency and necessity for wills, trusts, and other pertinent planning documents. For these reasons, estate planning for military families can be more complicated than for other types of families. 

From new anti-clawback proposed regulations to pay transparency statutes, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

While there are many ways to change the terms of an irrevocable trust, decanting proves to be one of the most effective methods. An irrevocable trust does not necessarily mean that it is unchangeable, as the terms can be altered after it is poured (decanted like a bottle of wine) into a new trust. Trust decanting is a useful tool for estate planning attorneys who are striving to make a trust better fit the needs of the client. The authority to decant a trust can be included in the original trust, or it can stem from the decanting statutes in more than thirty states. 

Business owners can be so concerned with day-to-day operations that they fail to prepare for the inevitable day when they are no longer able to run their business. There always seems to be time until there is no more time. Business succession planning may be the “single-most neglected aspect” of running a company. Further, this issue is relevant to business clients as well as to attorneys who run their own practices. Whether plans to depart the business are imminent or far-off, it is important to act now, as proper business succession planning can often take several years to implement.

Protecting assets is a major goal of estate planning, and as of March 2022, nineteen states have statutes that allow the creation of a domestic asset protection trust (DAPT). A DAPT is an irrevocable trust designed to protect trust assets from beneficiaries’ creditors. An even better version of this trust is the hybrid DAPT, which can offer another layer of protection for your client. Read on to learn how it works.

While you may have a strong handle on the substantive estate planning law required to effectively run your practice, it is natural for new and transitioning practitioners to experience difficulties acquiring clients. Law school prepares you to pass the bar and begin practicing law, but it does not prepare you to operate and market a business.

From a taxpayer’s win in a split-dollar life insurance arrangement case to the reinstatement of a Trump-era independent contractor rule, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Business can become personal for entrepreneurs who own a small business. Life changes such as divorce, disability, or death can affect not only the partner but also the ownership of the business. To retain stability when major changes occur, a business should have a comprehensive buy-sell agreement in place at its outset. Because life events will undoubtedly affect your clients’ businesses, you should be aware of and avoid common drafting mistakes in buy-sell agreements. 

The road to retirement is different for everyone. Workers have many paths to help save for retirement as they travel toward the same goal. Since retirement funds are an important part of many estate plans, you should understand the most common types of retirement accounts. Read on to learn more about these accounts and their various tax implications.

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are gaining popularity at an exponential rate. Trades of these unique digital assets increased by an eye-popping 21,000 percent in 2021, for a total value of $17.6 billion. Because your clients are increasingly likely to have NFTs in their portfolios, it is important that you understand them and know how to include them in an estate plan. 

Do you consider yourself comfortable with technology? If so, you can help clients who are not. Our communications methods and preferences have changed drastically in just the past few years. The American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.4(a) requires that attorneys keep clients well-informed, and improving your communications skills through technology will assist your clients immensely. You can augment your communication skills using four types of technology: smartphones, Zoom meetings, document solutions, and social media.  

From new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) proposed regulations relating to required minimum distributions to a new federal law ending forced arbitration for claims of sexual harassment and assault, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Retirement funds are likely one of the main components of your client’s estate plan. A standalone retirement trust (SRT) is a useful tool that can protect these funds by allowing your client to direct the manner in which they are distributed after the client dies. You can serve your clients well by explaining how an SRT works and how much value it can add to their estate plans.

When your client starts a limited liability company (LLC), they are not confined to forming it in their home state. Because all fifty states allow “foreign LLCs” to operate within their borders, your client can shop around for the state with the most advantageous rules. Your client can then operate the LLC under the law of the state where it was formed. Keep reading to discover the best states to form an LLC.

Mistakes happen in all forms of writing, including the drafting of estate planning documents. Even a small typographical error can have big consequences for you and your clients. If these errors are not rectified before the documents are signed, they can hurt your credibility with clients or worse—lead to malpractice claims. 

From new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) life expectancy tables for required minimum distributions to lowered reporting thresholds for third-party payment networks, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Powers of appointment are useful estate planning tools that allow the grantor of the power to choose someone they trust to instruct the fiduciary in control of the assets to redirect the distribution of the assets from their estate or trust. This distribution can take place many years after the grantor’s death.

Clients want their estates to grow until it is tax time—when they want to give the Internal Revenue Service as small a target as possible. While the federal wealth transfer tax exemptions run into the millions of dollars, some clients’ estates exceed these amounts and result in large estate tax bills. Fortunately, several methods are available to reduce the amount of a client’s estate for tax purposes. Here are ten strategies to limit your client’s exposure.

From an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Chief Counsel Advice affecting GRATs to decisions regarding the deduction of business losses, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Cryptocurrency may be the “next big thing” on the level of the personal computer and the internet. The market has already reached a total value of $3 trillion. Investors are attracted to its anonymity and freedom from centralized control by banks or governments. Understanding virtual assets and how they differ from traditional currency can help you serve your estate planning clients. Read on to learn how cryptocurrency will affect your law practice.

Family dynamics can change drastically when one member passes away. In particular, if a surviving spouse remarries, the question of what happens to the family home can make dynamics among the children and the new spouse even more complicated.

Like 2020, this year has been one for the record books. For the first time ever, young Americans (aged eighteen to thirty-four) are more likely to have a will than their older counterparts (aged thirty-five to fifty-four). The COVID-19 pandemic has forced younger Americans to consider the importance of estate planning and realize that it is not just a need of the ultrawealthy. 

From the announcement of the increased annual exclusion and gift and estate tax exemption for 2022 to the release of proposed regulations implementing the Corporate Transparency Act, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Gathering social media followers can help your law practice, but only if you know what to do with them. Social media followers have shown that they are interested in you by following you, but there are additional steps that you must take to transform them into paying clients.

Business lawyers should be aware that advising partnerships can be tricky: the federal partnership tax rules can be quite complicated. Partnerships should be formed for a legitimate business purpose—not just to avoid taxes—and partners should take care to avoid overstating their losses and underpaying taxes. In addition, if the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) imposes a penalty, any defenses must be raised at the proper stage: otherwise, they will be unavailable. As we examine the recent decision in Ginsburg v. United States, we can learn lessons about how the federal government handles tax issues relating to business partnerships. 

Millions of Americans have walked away from their jobs this year. This mass employment exodus is noticeable, as is evidenced every day by conversations with people and signs outside retail stores and restaurants begging potential employees to work for them.

From revisions to the Build Back Better Act to restrictions on noncompetition agreements, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Dealing with a malpractice claim can be very stressful and take a lot of time away from your business and clients. In addition to lost revenue, you may have to pay a settlement, court costs, and your own attorney’s fees. Your reputation as a lawyer could also suffer permanent damage. 

Helping Clients Plan for Community Property in a Separate Property State 

If you are an estate planner, chances are you practice in a separate property (or common law) state. After all, there are only nine community property states. But that does not mean that community property will not appear on your radar.

Trusts have significant income-tax implications because their tax brackets are compressed: they can reach the highest income tax bracket with much less income than an individual taxpayer. 

Flexibility in the drafting of trusts will be even more important in 2022, when tax brackets are likely to be affected by rising inflation, the cost-of-living adjustment, and President Biden’s stimulus package. Income tax planning may not always be the first thing that comes to mind when drafting a trust, but the current political climate is causing clients to be concerned about rising income tax rates. 

From the release of the Build Back Better Act to the expansion of the federal COVID-19 economic injury disaster loan program for businesses, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Many estate planning attorneys are following the news about the Build Back Better Act (the Act) and how it could affect their clients. This news story is a moving target, as Congress is likely to make changes to the legislation, and there is no guarantee that it will even pass.

Estate planning services are in high demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Surprisingly, young adults are more likely than their middle-aged counterparts to have a will. This demand presents a unique opportunity to offer estate planning services to the eighteen to thirty-four year old demographic, as well as their older counterparts whose planning efforts are lagging behind.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) doubled the federal gift and estate tax basic exclusion amount (referred to here as “exemption”) from $5 million to $10 million (adjusted for inflation). In 2022, the federal gift and estate tax exemption is $12.06 million, which generally means that an individual can transfer $12.06 million of assets before having to pay a gift or estate tax (at a maximum rate of 40%). Unless new legislation is passed, this exemption will reset to $5 million (adjusted for inflation) on January 1, 2026. 

Work-life balance sounds like one of those goals that everybody strives for but nobody can achieve. The stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic have stretched us to the point where work-life balance seems like a pipe dream—or even a cruel joke. But what if you really can achieve it?

From an extension to elect out of automatic allocations of the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption to alternative business structures for legal services, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

When the federal estate tax exemption is high, the issue of how to apportion death taxes is of less concern to many families. But this issue can cause controversy with taxable estates, blended families, and certain types of assets. If the decedent’s will or trust is silent on the issue of tax apportionment or the decedent died intestate, state law provides default rules that determine which interests or assets in a decedent’s estate bear the burden of paying death taxes. If a certain interest is insufficient to pay the net tax attributable to property passing under the terms of the trust, state law often also provides an order of priority for payment of the balance of the tax owed. However, the terms of the decedent’s will or trust can override these rules; that is, everyone has the opportunity to direct how taxes (and expenses, for that matter) will be paid. In a taxable estate, this may be the most important provision in the testamentary instrument.

Fall is often associated with back-to-school time, when many clients focus on their children’s educational future. This makes fall the perfect time for estate planning attorneys to remind their clients how important it is to take steps to secure their children’s financial future as well. By incorporating asset protection in their estate plan, clients can not only provide an inheritance for their children but also protect the inheritance from creditors, a soon-to-be ex-spouse, and poor money management that can quickly deplete hard-earned assets. 

Earlier this year, WealthCounsel, in conjunction with Trusts & Estates magazine, surveyed over 500 estate planning professionals to see what opportunities and challenges they and their clients face. The results indicate that, while there is stability within the industry overall, there are growing concerns from clients regarding proposed legislation that could have wide-ranging implications if passed. 

From penalties for the nonwillful failure to file reports of foreign financial accounts to new consumer privacy legislation, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Written by: REBECCA KLOCK SCHROER, JD, & MORGAN WIENER, JD

Trustees face a number of complexities when administering a trust that owns interests in a closely held business. This article focuses on two of those complexities:

(1)  Which standard of care applies to the trustee’s business decisions: the fiduciary or the corporate standard of care?

(2)  What is the trustee’s obligation to produce information about the business to the trust’s beneficiaries?

Because there is no national consensus on either of these issues, this article will first provide an overview of each issue and then review leading cases exemplifying the different approaches taken by courts.

The Virtual Conference for Experienced Estate Planners Returns

WealthCounsel’s Advanced Estate Planning Summit is returning this fall with some exciting new speakers and sessions that will give you fresh insight for your law practice. Whether you are hoping to stay ahead of the tsunami of proposals coming from the Hill, learn groundbreaking planning strategies for your clients, or gain practical skills regarding document drafting—this Summit has something for everyone.

With the 2021 federal estate tax exemption amount at $11.7 million for individuals and $23.4 million for couples, many estate planning attorneys have shifted to other financial savings objectives to plan for their clients whose taxable estates fall below these thresholds. Because of this high exemption amount, the federal estate tax has impacted less than 1 percent of the US population, and thus the planning focus has shifted towards reducing income tax liability for clients. More specifically, the focus has been on how to strategically and effectively reduce a client’s capital gains tax liability. Although these strategies may eventually need to change given new proposals by the Biden administration, there are several important rules regarding capital gains taxes that currently apply to gifts made during a client’s life or at death that legal counsel must consider when advising clients. 

Lawyers who represent family businesses often also represent the business owners, serve as a trustee or fiduciary on the business’s board, and provide personal estate planning for the owners and other family members. While fulfilling multiple goals  for clients may seem effective and efficient, it is important that the attorney consider potential ethical complications and the potential need to narrow the representation, obtain clients’ informed consent, or withdraw from a particular matter.

From new state statutes designed to attract wealthy residents to the validity of employer vaccine mandates, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Among confusing legal concepts, the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax is at the top of the list. Because of its complexity, many attorneys lump it in with concepts such as the rule against perpetuities—topics taught in law school that they never quite fully understood and wish to forget. However, for estate-planning attorneys, understanding the GST tax is vital to helping their clients effectively plan to avoid it if possible. As with any concept that causes confusion, breaking it down is the key to better understanding.

Inconvenience resulting from COVID-19 restrictions or other issues related to remote work are not an excuse for failing to meet ethical duties. The rules of professional responsibility, including the duty of confidentiality and duty to avoid conflicts of interest, still apply in the virtual environment. In fact, attorneys may need to implement extra safeguards to avoid violating their ethical obligations.  

With the Democrats in control of both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government, there has been a plethora of new proposals that could have sweeping effects within the estate planning industry. Some of the most notable proposals include increasing the capital gains tax rate to 39.6 percent, ending stepped-up basis, and making sweeping modifications to the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemptions. 

From the Department of the Treasury’s issuance of a new “green book” to the Biden administration’s withdrawal of a proposed Trump-era independent contractor rule, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

By PEGGY HOYT, JD, MBA, BCS

Planning for four-legged loved ones (kids in fur coats) can be just as challenging as planning for two-legged loved ones (minor children). Clients typically ask, “Do I need a trust or a will?” The answer, of course, is, “It depends.” 

Although trusts are effective estate-planning tools used to avoid probate and minimize estate and gift taxes, their income-tax implications must also be considered to ensure that there are no unintended tax consequences. The drafting attorney should point out the advantageous and disadvantageous fiduciary income-tax implications for the type of trust being considered and then determine which trust is the best fit for the client. 

Navigating a postdeath trust administration can be daunting, and attorneys must have the necessary skills, knowledge, and competence to diligently and effectively provide legal services to fiduciary clients during this process.

From the proposed elimination of stepped-up basis to new grants for restaurants and live venues harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

One-size-fits-all estate plans are impracticable due to the differences and varying complexities in each person’s estate. It is imperative to tailor an estate plan to meet each client’s needs and goals, so the drafting attorney must understand the character of the assets in the client’s estate and the planning options best suited for each client. Because high net worth clients are often very protective of their assets, planning objectives and recommendations for clients with large estates will almost always differ and be more complex than those for other clients. When estate planning attorneys understand the different planning techniques appropriate for larger estates, including the advantages and disadvantages of each, they can help high net worth clients create a plan that not only facilitates a smooth transition of assets to beneficiaries after death but also helps to sustain the longevity of assets.   

We are excited and honored to announce our participation in the 2021 Document Management Buyers Guide! The e-book, released by Legal Tech Publishing, spotlights innovative legal technology products for attorneys.

The Corporate Transparency Act of 2020 (CTA), passed on January 1, 2021, is designed to prevent malign actors, i.e., companies that seek to conceal their ownership of businesses in the United States in an effort to facilitate illicit activity such as money laundering, financing of terrorism, tax fraud, and other acts of foreign corruption, from harming the national security interests of the United States and its allies. But why should this be of any interest to estate planners?

From sweeping new tax proposals to an extension of the Paycheck Protection Program, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

by Phoebe Stone, JD, MA (bioethics)

Transferring title of real property to an inter vivos trust is an extremely common practice for most estate planners. Many practitioners also engage in transfers of real property to ownership vehicles such as limited liability companies (LLCs). Practitioners must exercise caution when making these transfers if the property is subject to an existing mortgage, however, because such transfers can trigger the due-on-sale clause that is typically included in the mortgage contract.¹

If you still have questions regarding the impact of the SECURE Act on your client’s individual retirement account (IRA) and estate plan, you are not alone. Planning for clients whose largest asset is their IRA was already challenging prior to the passage of the SECURE Act, but with new rules and exceptions to consider, planning for these clients is even more complex. Now more than ever, estate planning attorneys must understand the ins and outs of the SECURE Act and how it affects their clients’ plans.

As we see the light at the end of the (COVID) tunnel, we are optimistic that in-person events will again be part of our marketing strategy in the not-too-distant future. However, if COVID has taught us anything, it is that a strong online presence and content marketing strategy is critical—and this reality is unlikely to change after the pandemic. 

Although some states have eased COVID-related restrictions on small businesses, many businesses are still struggling. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) continue to issue guidance for small businesses that seek to benefit from the COVID-relief legislation passed in 2020. In addition, the American Rescue Plan Act, the new stimulus legislation signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021, provides additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as well as aid for certain business sectors that have been particularly hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Statistics of Income program, in a typical year, taxpayers file over two hundred thousand Forms 709, United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, and pay hundreds of millions of dollars in gift taxes. Each calendar year, taxpayers gift billions of dollars to friends, family, charities, and trusts. Taxpayers file gift tax returns not only to report lifetime gifts to the IRS but also to allocate their generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to some or all of those transfers. In turn, the IRS uses the gift tax returns to impose gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes on taxpayers who have exhausted their lifetime exemptions and to keep track of a taxpayer’s remaining exemptions for taxpayers who may owe estate tax at the time of their death.

From proposals for new inheritance taxes to new consumer privacy laws, we have recently seen some significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

If you have practiced business law for a decade or more, you may have experienced a noticeable shift in the demographics of your clients who own small businesses. Between 1972—the year the US Census Bureau began providing data on all woman-owned businesses—and 2019, the number of woman-owned businesses tripled. In recent years, this trend has accelerated. From 2007, the year of the Great Recession, to 2019, the number of woman-owned businesses grew by 58 percent. Forty-two percent of all businesses were woman-owned in 2019, compared to 4.6 percent in 1972. Nearly all (99.9 percent) woman-owned businesses are small businesses. Despite their growth in number and rate of success, woman-owned small businesses experience more challenges, such as less access to financing and slower growth, than businesses owned by men.

From electronic wills statutes to federally mandated reporting requirements for small businesses, we have recently seen some significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

“Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.”

—Irving Fisher, New York Times, October 16, 1929

We all know what happened on October 24, 1929, just eight days after Professor Fisher’s bullish prediction, when the Wall Street Crash ushered in the Great Depression, ruining the great economist’s reputation. In hindsight, it is easy to spot the irrational exuberance exhibited in the run up to the greatest economic crisis in modern times. However, the fact remains that Professor Fisher was far from the only economist who expressed this opinion.

African American-owned businesses are on the rise: The US Census Bureau estimates that there were 2.5 million Black-owned businesses in 2020. As African Americans pursue economic success through entrepreneurship, they must also consider creating plans to pass their businesses down to the next generation and ensure financial security in the event of incapacitation. There has generally been a lack of focus on generational wealth in the African American community, but information on the importance of planning and encouragement from estate planning attorneys will encourage African American business owners and their families to plan for their futures. It is therefore important to address the common myths that may lead African Americans to believe that an estate plan is unnecessary.

Author: Stan Miller, JD

Based on my experience counseling estate planning clients, I believe they want us to engage with them on a level that transcends the trust and financial solutions we typically offer as attorneys and advisors. Our clients want us to engage with them on a legacy level. The conclusion expressed in the title of Daniel Scott’s article “Estate Planning is Dead” seems to be an overstatement. But Scott effectively showed that the work we do merely as planners does not address the deeper needs of our clients. According to Scott,

Revocable living trusts (RLT) are the bread and butter of most estate planners. If drafted correctly, RLTs can avoid the costly and time-consuming probate process and provide for a client’s spouse without disinheriting children—which can be important for clients who are in second marriages. RLTs can reduce estate taxes and protect inheritances from courts, creditors, spouses, divorce proceedings, and irresponsible spending.

From the issuance of the Internal Revenue Service’s Priority Guidance Plan to new COVID-19 relief legislation, we have seen some significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

A membership to WealthCounsel is the best gift you could give to your practice (and yourself!). WealthCounsel has everything you need to build and run a thriving estate planning or business law practice. 

It may seem surprising to use a wine analogy to explain a legal concept, but when discussing trust decanting, pouring wine is often a part of the conversation. When you take a bottle of wine and slowly pour the wine from the bottle into a different container, you are separating the wine from any sediments that may have formed in the bottle. This process is called wine decanting. Decanting ultimately makes the wine taste better as it removes the harsh taste of built-up sediment. Similarly, trust decanting allows a trustee to modify an irrevocable trust by “pouring” the trust assets into a new trust that has different, often more favorable terms. If a trustee has the discretionary power to distribute trust assets to and for the benefit of a beneficiary, decanting enables a trustee to use this power to dictate the terms of a new trust. 

From changes in the tax assessments of inherited property in California to new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) guidance regarding the nondeductibility of expenses paid by PPP loans, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Proposition 19, a California ballot measure, modifies Proposition 13 (which limits increases of real property tax to two percent per year unless reassessed due to sale or transfer) and Proposition 58 (which allows property owners to transfer their primary residence to their children at the preferential property tax assessment and up to $1 million of assessed value of other real property, with a later proposition extending the benefit to qualifying grandchildren).

1. Acknowledge and reward your staff. Our legal staff makes us look good. Employees help us stay organized, remember important deadlines, and carry a larger load than we would like to admit. As the year ends, it is always a great idea to acknowledge your employees by giving them a bonus or gift. They will certainly appreciate the acknowledgement of their hard work, particularly in a year like 2020 where many have been juggling increased responsibilities at home. 
   

by Steve Gorin, JD

Deductible business losses can lead to a reduction in—or refund of—income tax. This article will examine the various rules limiting the current deduction of business losses and a 2020 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) memo explaining the effect of these limits on the self-employment tax. In addition, this article discusses the impact of the coronavirus pandemic relief provided by the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), effective March 27, 2020, which temporarily upended the 2017 tax reform.

From the imposition of transferee liability for estate taxes to actions arising from the misclassification of workers, we have seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

A grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) is an advanced estate planning tool used to reduce an individual’s taxable estate by passing assets to trust beneficiaries free of estate and gift tax. However, like any advanced estate planning tool, GRATs can be complicated and must be structured properly to be beneficial. Dive into the following questions and answers to develop a better understanding of how GRATs work and how they may be useful for estate planning clients.

Entrepreneurship is currently on the rise, largely driven by individuals who either are seeking to become their own boss or have decided to turn a passion into a full-fledged business. But how many of these small business owners have taken steps to protect the future of their businesses or have considered the legacy of their businesses after they die or retire? How many of them have included buy-sell agreements in their estate and business succession plans? When approached by business owners who wish to execute an estate plan, it is imperative that estate planning attorneys help these business owners take the necessary steps to protect the future of their businesses by ensuring that a well-drafted buy-sell agreement is a component of their plans. 

Author: James G. Blase, CPA, JD, LLM, Blase & Associates, LLC, St. Louis, Missouri

Many clients are scrambling to implement significant gifting plans and trusts before changes are potentially made to the current estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax laws by a new Congress and president. Regardless of the outcome of the election, planning will need to take place before 2026, when the current $11.58 million lifetime gift and GST tax exemptions are scheduled to sunset, potentially being reduced to their previous $5 million levels, adjusted for inflation. For many high net worth married couples, the goal is to double the amount of this current gift to up to $23.16 million.

Halloween is in the air everywhere we look. Even with all the frightening imagery of ghouls, ghosts, and goblins, to estate planning attorneys there are things even more terrifying: legal drafting mistakes! Drafting mistakes can lead to disappointed phone calls from clients, negative online reviews, and worst of all, demand letters from the attorneys of angry children of deceased clients, followed by that dreaded call to your professional liability insurance carrier. This is truly the stuff nightmares are made of.

On October 8, 2020, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) issued a new simplified two-page Form 3508S application, instructions for borrowers, and accompanying guidance aimed at benefiting small business owners who obtained Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans of $50,000 or less. Borrowers and their affiliates that received loans of $2 million or more may not use Form 3508S. The new application and guidance, effective October 14, 2020, provide much-anticipated relief for eligible borrowers, including forgiveness reduction exemptions and fewer reporting requirements. The Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act, legislation proposed by the Senate in July, would have provided automatic forgiveness (upon attestation of a good faith effort to comply with PPP requirements) to borrowers receiving $150,000 or less in PPP funds.

Right now may be the best time in a generation for significant family wealth transfers. The combination of a difficult recession, a low interest rate environment, the very real probability of future legislative change, and perhaps most importantly, a deep need for shared family wealth has created a perfect opportunity for families to transfer significant wealth.

Many estate planning attorneys choose to expand into the practice of trust administration to provide additional legal services to their clients and increase profits in their law firms. As an estate planning attorney, you may initially encounter trust administration when a long-time estate planning client passes away and the family turns to you, as the trusted legal advisor, for help. Or potential clients may find you online while searching for a trusts and estates attorney because they need help handling the legal issues surrounding their deceased loved ones’ final affairs.

From new SECURE Act guidance to the invalidation of a forum selection clause by a California court, we have seen some significant developments in estate planning and business law over the past month. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted some noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Estate Planning Awareness week is just around the corner. With so much going on this year—the coronavirus and the upcoming presidential election—attorneys need to educate their communities on the value of estate planning now more than ever. In addition to providing a complimentary marketing package to help you get started, below are three ways you can market your practice and get the conversations going. 

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, known by her initials RBG, passed away last week leaving a long legal legacy in her wake. She will lie in state in the United States Capitol, the first woman ever to have been so honored.

The 2020 election is almost upon us. The past has taught us that trying to predict the results of an election are futile at best. Still, estate planning clients need timely counsel as to how the election may impact their financial futures. Estate planning attorneys strive to help clients stay informed and suggest opportunities for clients to respond to changes. While we do not know exactly what the future holds, we do have strong clues as to what the tax laws may look like if the balance of power shifts in 2021 from Republican to Democrat hands. 

From a proposed wealth tax in California to the enactment of state business liability shield statutes, we have recently seen some significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

A client’s intentions in preparing an estate plan are as unique as that individual. Even so, some of the most common reasons for estate planning include the desire to

2020 has been a year of change and adaptation. From learning how to practice law virtually due to COVID-19 to major planning changes under the SECURE Act and CARES Act, many attorneys are wondering how they are going to keep their heads above water and keep their practices viable. 

Gain new insights for your practice with the Advanced Estate Planning Summit — perfect for experienced estate planning professionals, the Summit is now on-demand and can be purchased through our Store. Featuring industry experts who delve deep into advanced timely topics, you’ll walk away with new legal strategies and practical takeaways to use immediately in your practice.

Offering trust administration services can be highly profitable and rewarding for your law practice. Attorneys providing legal services to fiduciaries in postdeath administrations can deliver more holistic “cradle to grave” care for estate planning clients and receive an additional steady source of income. However, this area of law is not without risks—the amount of time, attention to detail, and competence required in guiding fiduciaries through the administration process can leave an attorney vulnerable to malpractice claims and unhappy clients. 

From the issuance of Section 199A final regulations to COVID-19-related guidance under the Family and Medical Leave Act, we have recently seen some significant developments in estate planning and business law. To help you stay abreast of these legal changes, we’ve highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Real property used in a taxpayer’s trade or business is excluded from the IRS’s definition of a capital asset, enabling taxpayers to take advantage of the generally more beneficial ordinary loss deduction rather than the capital loss deduction upon its sale. As the petitioners discovered in Keefe v. Commissioner, 2020 WL 4032469 (2d Cir. July 17, 2020), however, the treatment of a sale of real estate as a sale of business property rather than a sale of a capital asset needs to be backed up by the facts, and an incorrect characterization on a tax return can be quite expensive.

By Mary E. Vandenack, founding and managing member of Vandenack Weaver LLC

Significant amounts of wealth are likely to be transferred over the next 25 years. The United States has an aging population in control of an estimated $59 trillion in assets. A growing area of case law in the United States has been that of tortious interference with inheritance. Tortious interference with inheritance occurs when an individual, by fraud or duress, or other tortious means, intentionally prevents another from receiving an inheritance or gift that he would otherwise have received. Tortious interference is rooted in and related to other concepts such as undue influence and fraud. 

In a postdeath trust administration, beneficiaries are often most concerned with the distribution of assets. Who gets what and when? Trustees, and attorneys counseling trustees, must recognize the importance of when, or more importantly, when not to distribute trust property. The trustee’s proper timing of final distributions to beneficiaries can make all the difference in whether a trust administration concludes smoothly or becomes unnecessarily complicated. Generally, distributions should not be made until all debts and taxes have been paid and any remaining expenses of administration are reasonably accounted for with a reserve. 

Before the increase in the federal estate tax exemption amount, brought in by the enactment of the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) in 2013 and raised by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, estate planning attorneys focused primarily on how to avoid the impact of estate tax.

From the taxation of trust income in California to landmark civil rights decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court, we have recently seen some significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we’ve highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Author: Landon Long, Senior Attorney at Evans & Davis and WealthCounsel member

Estate planning is widely recognized as a means of transferring wealth from one generation to the next while minimizing both taxes and the risk of loss to creditors. A comprehensive estate plan not only transfers cash, investments, real estate, and vehicles, but also less commonly considered assets, such as intellectual property. While clients in certain professions—for example, authors, artists, small business owners, and inventors—often recognize the need to protect their valuable intellectual property, every client potentially has intellectual property that could provide a stream of income for family members or loved ones after the client passes away. 

On June 5, 2020, President Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (the Flexibility Act), which changes several important aspects of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The Small Business Administration (SBA) issued guidance on June 11, 2020, to modify the first interim final rule (issued April 2) to conform to the provisions of the Flexibility Act. Further guidance was published on June 17, 2020, revising the third and sixth interim final rules to conform to the Flexibility Act. In addition, further revisions to the first interim final rule were made on June 12, 2020, to promote the criminal justice reform policies underlying the First Step Act of 2018. The rules have been frequently changing and difficult for many borrowers to keep up with. The most recent updates are summarized below.

With the coronavirus wreaking havoc on the U.S. economy, the federal funds rate has taken a nosedive, dropping from 1.75% in January to 0.25% as of June 10th. With rates projected to hover around 0% for the foreseeable future, now is a great time to leverage low interest rates in your estate planning strategies and help clients to maximize their wealth for themselves and their families even in times that are economically challenging. Below are three wealth transfer strategies to consider.

From modifications to the Paycheck Protection Program to temporary IRS procedures allowing the electronic submission of requests for advice, we have recently seen some significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we’ve highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

After more than two months of being in lockdown due to the coronavirus, states across the country are slowly starting to reopen (see NYT's interactive map). With restrictions lifting, many businesses are itching to return to physical workspaces. But with federal, state, and local safety guidelines to contend with, resuming “business as usual” is just not possible (at least for the foreseeable future). 

On May 22nd the Small Business Administration (SBA), in conjunction with the Department of the Treasury, issued a new Interim Final Rule providing additional information for borrowers planning to apply for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness. Here are some highlights from this long-awaited guidance for borrowers. 

One year ago this week, the House passed the SECURE Act with 417 yeas and 3 nays. Although this bill, Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, H.R. 1994, 116th Cong. (2019), had overwhelming bipartisan support, it languished in the Senate. Estate planning attorneys, financial planners, and industry experts watched the bill for the rest of 2019 with particular interest, in large part because of a provision in Title IV of the bill that proposed modifying the required minimum distribution rules for qualified retirement accounts by eliminating the “stretch” for all beneficiaries except those qualifying as “eligible designated beneficiaries.” By December 2019, it seemed that the SECURE Act bill was going to die with the year. However, in a last-minute move, the SECURE Act was attached to the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act (FCAA) of 2020, H.R. 1865, 116th Cong. (2020), in a slightly modified form. This version of the SECURE Act, which Congress passed in mid-December, was signed into law on December 20, 2019, with an effective date of January 1, 2020, for most of its provisions. 

From case law approving an alternative pleading model for trust beneficiaries to avoid triggering a no-contest clause, to COVID-19 relief measures, we have  seen significant developments in estate planning and business law recently. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Legal developments we will cover:

• IRS Regulations Clarify Treatment of Excess Deductions Passed on to Beneficiaries
• New Interim Final Rule Authorizes PPP Loan Increases for Partnerships
• Virginia Supreme Court’s Ruling on No-Contest Clause Case
• Valuation Discount Disallowed for Lack of Control
• IRS Issues FAQs Regarding COVID-19 Relief for Estate and Gift
• Expenses Paid Using PPP Loan Proceeds Later Forgiven Not Deductible
• Congress Passes PPP and Health Care Enhancement Act
• Temporary Relief for Small Businesses Seeking Funding Through Crowdfunding

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed into law on March 27, 2020, is designed to provide quick and substantial relief to individuals and businesses affected by the economic shutdown in response to the spread of COVID-19. Several CARES Act provisions provide temporary tax relief for individuals and businesses, as well as enhanced tax incentives designed to encourage charitable giving. 

What is Trust Decanting?

For many years, practitioners have struggled to find ways to change the terms of an irrevocable trust. However, through common law and through the decanting statutes that have been enacted in many jurisdictions, it is now possible to modify an irrevocable trust. The rationale for allowing such a modification is that a trustee who has the power to distribute the trust property to or for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries should be able to make the distribution to them in trust and dictate the terms of that trust. Decanting is essentially a “do-over”.

Americans all over the nation are scrambling to protect themselves and their families from the coronavirus. One important factor that may be overlooked is incapacity planning. Estate planners have an important role in educating those within their community on the benefits of having updated healthcare directives. We've created a complementary marketing package that can help you engage clients and potential clients on this important matter. The package includes:

From sweeping federal COVID-19 relief legislation to state emergency orders, we have recently seen some significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we’ve highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

On March 18, 2020, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was passed. The Act has two important new laws for employees, intended to provide relief, as most people’s lives have been impacted in some way by COVID-19: (1) the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act; and (2) the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act. FFCRA also offers tax credits and exemptions designed to protect the viability of businesses during a time of economic stress.

1. Implement new technology to operate remotely and conduct business in a virtual environment

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was created as part of the $2 trillion stimulus package known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. This program provides $349,000,000 in federally backed loans to businesses to meet financial operational costs like payroll, mortgage interest payments, rent, and utility payments as an incentive to encourage businesses to retain employees during this pandemic.

Small businesses are struggling economically in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses have closed as a result of shelter-in-place orders, and even in states less severely affected by the virus, many non-essential businesses have closed.  Further, companies that have remained open are dealing with the fallout stemming from the public’s fear of the spread of the disease. Due to the volatility of the stock market, home builders and others in the construction industry may experience a slowdown in customers seeking to build new homes or renovate as a result of their shrinking investment accounts. Likewise, many other industries are suffering from curtailed discretionary spending and decreased consumer confidence. Employees have also been affected, with businesses forced into schedule reductions, pay cuts and layoffs due to virus-related slowdowns, as well as mandatory or voluntary closures. 

From case law requiring notice for contingent beneficiaries to new federal rules applicable to joint employers, we have recently seen some significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we’ve highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

This article has been updated to reflect the U.S. Treasury announcement on 3/20. Readers should verify that no further changes have been made to the filing and payment deadlines. 

The 2020 tax season is underway, but millions of Americans have yet to start preparing their tax returns. Earlier this week, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin offered taxpayers a 90-day reprieve on paying their income taxes. As of Friday, March 20, the deadline to file tax returns has also been extended by three months. Taxpayers will now have until July 15th to file and pay their 2019 income taxes (up to $1 million). During this time, filers will not incur interest on unpaid taxes or be subject to tax filing penalties. According to Wealth Management, “this reprieve amount would also likely apply to small businesses and pass-through entities. Corporate filers, on the other hand, would get the same length of time to pay amounts due on up to $10 million in taxes owed.”  As details continue to be hammered out, tax advisors and estate planning attorneys should expect questions from clients as the new tax filing deadline approaches.

The Quarterly—WealthCounsel’s legal magazine for estate planning and business law attorneys—2020 winter issue is here! This issue focuses on trust administration—a logical and complementary service to add to any estate planning practice. Full of informative articles, this issue offers practical insights for estate planning attorneys either already administering trusts or wishing to expand the scope of their practice to include trust administration. 

By Libby Banks, The Law Office of Libby Banks, PLLC

In the course of developing my estate planning practice, I’ve realized that the majority of my clients are women. I also have found that when a married couple comes to see me, the wife is typically the driver of the meeting. As both a woman and an estate planning attorney, I have developed some ideas about why women are so often the initiators of the estate planning process and what they are looking for from us as estate planners. 

From no-contest clauses in Wyoming, to charitable deduction reporting to the IRS, to SALT deductions in New Jersey, there are a variety of recent developments in estate planning and business law. To help you stay abreast of current developments, here are a few highlights.

Revocable living trusts are an increasingly popular estate planning tool for married couples. They can be extremely useful for incapacity planning, probate avoidance (including the ability to avoid probate in other states so long as real estate in another state has been properly transferred to the revocable living trust), asset protection, and privacy. Depending on the married couple’s goals and circumstances, an estate plan can include either a joint revocable trust or separate trusts for each spouse. Both options offer advantages and disadvantages. Listed below are several client scenarios that explore whether a joint trust or individual trusts are better. 

Many of our clients live in an increasingly mobile world, owning property or assets in multiple countries, or maintaining dual citizenship. They may also be United States (US) expatriates or a US person married to a non-citizen spouse. The estate planning process for these clients is likely to be more complex because each country has different laws or statutes regarding wills, trusts, and taxes. As a result, it is imperative that estate planning practitioners have a basic knowledge of the applicable US and foreign laws and rules, as well as commonly used estate planning strategies.  It is not enough to assume that a will or trust created in the US will be honored in another country. 

Symposium is a one-of-a-kind gathering of the finest minds in estate planning and business law. Featuring top-notch and practical education from leading experts in trusts and estates, unparalleled (and unforgettable) networking opportunities, and modern techniques for growing your practice, Symposium has one goal in mind: helping you achieve the practice you want.

The SECURE Act, which stands for “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement” Act, was signed into law at the end of 2019. The Act takes small but impactful steps towards addressing the country’s retirement crisis by incentivizing small business owners to sponsor retirement plans for their employees. It has also provided an excellent window of opportunity for practitioners to reach out to their small business clients in light of the new legislation. Below are four significant upgrades made by the Act that you should consider sharing with your business owner clients.

From the passage of the long-expected SECURE Act to the establishment of paid leave for federal workers, we have recently seen some significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we’ve highlighted four noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Written by: Sterling Miller, JD

It’s difficult to be part of any business and not hear about “risk.” It’s everywhere. If risk were a woman, it would be the Hollywood “It Girl” of 2019. Put another way, risk is the new black. It’s on the lips of every CEO, CFO, and board member, as it should be. And, anything that is important to the board and the C-Suite, is important to the Legal Department. In fact, over the past five or so years, one of the key responsibilities businesses are placing on in-house lawyers is spotting and managing risk. The business wants its in-house lawyers to be the ones who sniff through virtually every situation looking for risk (legal or otherwise). What this means is that, more and more, in-house counsel need to be masters of the company’s business operations and strategy (both short and long term), because you cannot successfully spot and manage risk unless you understand how the company operates and where it wants to go.

Congratulations! You’ve created a comprehensive estate plan for your client. Now that all documents are signed and handed over to the client, does that mark the end of an estate planner’s job? According to the book Estate Planning for the Post-Transition Period, the majority of estate plans that fail do so because of non-legal/non-technical aspects. These errors have nothing to do with your perfectly drafted estate plan. Rather, they are issues related to lack of communication and inaction on the part of your clients’ family. Today, the most common reasons for failure are:

According to the American Bar Association (ABA), drafting is a “mission-critical function” for all law offices. Your legal documents should capture your practice’s intellectual capital and set it apart from other competitors. While drafting methods have remained relatively unchanged for decades, the increasingly hyper-competitive legal market has forced attorneys to seek out and adopt new legal technologies to streamline their drafting processes. 

On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act). The SECURE Act, which is effective January 1, 2020, is the most impactful retirement legislation of the past decade.

From sweeping legislative changes to decisive judicial decisions—we’ve seen some impactful developments in estate planning and business law this year. To ensure that you close out the year successfully, we’ve highlighted six noteworthy developments of 2019 and analyzed how they may impact your law practice. 

The end of the year is a great time to set goals for the coming year, reach out to clients, thank referral sources, invest in new tech (like automated drafting software), and conduct some housekeeping in your practice. To ensure you set your practice up for a successful new year, below are 11 year-end planning tips to consider. 

Adding customized clauses and provisions to a legal document is a great way to tailor a document to a client’s specific goals and circumstances. However, creating a new provision or tailoring an existing provision for a new client can be time-consuming, not to mention risky. To cut down on time and reduce the inherent dangers of simply editing an existing document, attorneys often make the mistake of using boilerplate provisions. 

For many estate planning clients, retirement assets will be the largest asset they own at their death. Passing retirement accounts to intended beneficiaries requires special knowledge and careful planning.

From long-awaited guidance on the tax treatment of cryptocurrency to the banning of forced arbitration agreements for workers in California—we’ve recently seen some impactful developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we’ve highlighted five noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice. 

When consumers experience a “breach” of certain categories of information, state laws have required organizations to notify those affected and, in some instances, to also notify state agencies, consumer reporting agencies, and the media. A growing number of states—including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas, and, most recently, New York—have gone a step further, requiring organizations to develop and implement “reasonable safeguards” to secure the personal information they collect and use. 

Decanting can be a great way to add flexibility to irrevocable trusts. Beyond correcting scrivener’s errors, resolving ambiguities, or clarifying trust language, decanting allows trustees to change some provisions of an irrevocable trust by pouring the assets into a new trust with modified terms.

When planning for married couples are joint trusts more advantageous or are separate trusts the way to go? Many married couples have their assets so intertwined that separate individual trusts might not be the best estate planning tool for them. However, joint trusts often don’t provide the same level of flexibility as separate trusts. A Survivor’s Trust, on the other hand, provides the surviving spouse with the same kind of versatility at first death that he or she would have had if the couple had used separate trusts at the outset.

From sweeping employee classifications changes in California to uncertainties regarding the future of New Jersey’s Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act—we’ve seen some impactful developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we’ve highlighted five noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice. 

You help your clients plan for the unexpected, but have you done the same for your law firm? To ensure that your law firm stays healthy and profitable during a disruptive event (whether it’s a recession, unexpected health event, or natural disaster), attorneys should make sure they have a well thought out contingency plan for their business. 

There are many reasons why an attorney should think about adding additional practice areas to their law firm offerings—it helps improve your client experience, having multiple streams of income protects your business from market volatility, and it increases your bottom line! However, adding another practice area can be a big ask for you, your office staff, and your budget. 

Estate Planning Awareness Week, October 21-27, 2019, is just around the corner. With a reported 60% of all adults not having an estate plan, now is the perfect time to educate your community why comprehensive estate planning is critical—and why you’re the perfect professional for the job!

The SECURE Act (“Act”) passed the House on May 23, 2019, with overwhelming bipartisan support (417-3), and the same was expected to occur in the Senate. Following Congress’ August recess, however, the bill remains stalled in the Senate, with some sources questioning whether it will ever become law. This update will provide a brief overview of key provisions of H.R. 1994 – the version of the Act approved by the House and received by the Senate on June 3, 2019 – and will discuss the provisions said to be causing the holdup in the Senate.

Fiduciaries can hold a lot of power when it comes to the successful execution of one’s estate plan—they make crucial financial decisions, act as advocates for a client’s wishes,  make sure an estate’s debts are settled, and ensure that each beneficiary gets what they were intended to receive. As such, helping clients choose the right individual to carry out these duties can be the difference between successfully carrying out a client’s wishes and complete calamity.   

A bankruptcy attorney sues Square, Inc. for discrimination; a Florida law firm learns an expensive lesson on negligent drafting—last month saw a few cases offering cautionary tales. So you can stay abreast of these legal developments, we’ve highlighted three recent cases and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

Recession indicators, such as the recent inversion of the yield curve (which has accurately predicted all U.S. recessions in the last 60 years) are pointing towards a possible recession. With the topic garnering so much public attention, these fears of an impending national recession could become a self-fulfilling prophecy—particularly if enough people believe it’s going to happen and subsequently pull back their investments and slow their spending. 

Symposium is the nation’s leading estate and business planning conference. This year, Symposium offered over 50 learning sessions with 5 learning tracks, 45 speakers, our new Paraprofessional Symposium, and explored some exciting new services and products. If you weren't able to attend, check out what you missed in the highlights below!

A Peer Group is an advisory group specific to your business and career. WealthCounsel’s Peer Groups are tailored to meet your needs as an estate planning attorney by focusing on developing your business plan, growing your client base, optimizing your billable hours, and showing you how to utilize technology for high-performance results. 

Here are the four ways our Peer Groups can help your practice:

According to the Pew Research Center, one-in-three American workers are millennials—making them the largest generation in the US workforce. Today, millennials range in age from 23 to 38. Compared to previous generations, millennials are more ethnically and racially diverse; they are marrying later in life if at all; they are better educated with millennial women completing their bachelor’s degree in greater numbers than men; and, they have less wealth and more debt than baby boomers did at the same age.

The charities we’ve chosen to work with this year pursue causes close to our heart—building strong communities, empowering individuals using technology, promoting education, and accessible legal services. As a company, these beliefs are what guide us in not only how we serve our members, but also how we strive to serve our greater communities through WealthCounsel Stands.

There have been significant legal developments in recent months—from two rare Supreme Court cases in our practice area to an uptick in litigation over no-contest clauses—we’re here to help you grapple with and learn from these cases. Read our break down of just a few of the most impactful developments so far this year.

On June 21, 2019, the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled in North Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kaestner 1992 Family Trust, No. 18-457, 2019 WL 2552488 (U.S. June 21, 2019) that the presence of in-state beneficiaries alone does not permit a state to tax trust income that has not been distributed to the beneficiaries where the beneficiaries have (1) no right to demand the income and (2) no guarantee that they would eventually receive the income from the trust. Justice Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court; Justice Alito, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Gorsuch, filed a concurring opinion.

The charities we’ve chosen to work with this year pursue causes close to our heart—building strong communities, empowering individuals using technology, promoting education, and accessible legal services. As a company, these beliefs are what guide us in not only how we serve our members, but also how we strive to serve our greater communities through WealthCounsel Stands.

Business planning and estate planning often go hand in hand. Businesses started by parents are frequently passed down to their children, and in the absence of adequate forethought, the new relationships that are formed can quickly disintegrate, causing damage to both the siblings’ personal bond and to the business.

Attorneys who work in trust administration know that revenue streams can be volatile—up one month and down the next. Not only does unreliable cash flow make running a practice stressful, but it can also hinder a firm’s’ long-term growth. So, how does one create a profitable, yet steady, revenue stream in trust administration? One attorney has some advice. Jessica Pannell, JD, of JM Law, PLLC in McLean, Virginia, has been sharing her practice’s challenges and successes in trust administration with colleagues all over the nation.

Last month, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it would be capping, and in some cases, lowering the fines for HIPAA violations. HHS released a Notification of Enforcement Discretion Regarding HIPAA Civil Money Penalties describing the new tier structure. According to HHS the new structure better reflects a covered entity’s “level of culpability.” Going forward, HHS will now use annual limits based on the four culpability levels of whether an organization has no knowledge, reasonable cause, willfully neglected and corrected, or willfully neglected without correcting HIPAA violations.

On May 23, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1994, also known as the SECURE Act, by a vote of 417 to 3. The SECURE Act is now headed to the Senate, where a nearly identical bill (the Retirement Enhancement Savings Act, aka RESA) is pending. Due to its overwhelming bipartisan support, experts believe the SECURE Act, perhaps with minor adjustments made in the Senate, will easily become law.

According to a US Census Bureau report, couples in which one or both spouses are foreign-born account for 20% of all marriages in the United States. Of these foreign-born spouses, approximately 60% are naturalized and 40% are noncitizens. The Bureau links this trend to both the growth of the US immigrant population and the increased number of Americans traveling and living abroad. This demographic faces unique estate and tax planning issues.