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.

Larry King passed away in January due to complications with COVID-19. At the time, he was in the middle of a divorce from his seventh wife, Shawn. His net worth is estimated to be some $144 million. Shawn has been adamant that the pair have had an estate plan in place for many years. However, last month, a holographic will was found.

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.