Monthly Archives: February 2014
Facebook Makes Memorialized Accounts More Public
Last year I wrote an Introduction to Estate Planning for Digital Assets. Digital assets include everything from e-mail to photo sharing to cloud music storage to social networks. I explained that this is an emerging area without a lot of legal guidance and with a lot of change expected as laws and policies evolve… Read More »
Updating Living Trusts: Amendment vs. Restatement
One of the features of a revocable living trust is that it is easy to amend. When a trust is created, the person(s) who creates the trust (the “grantor”) will typically reserve full rights to amend or restate the terms at any time in a writing delivered to the trustee. This power to amend… Read More »
IRS Extends Portability Election Deadline for 2011 to 2013 Estates
Last week I discussed why every surviving spouse should consider filing a Federal Estate Tax Return Form 706 to elect portability of the unused portion of their spouse’s federal estate tax exemption. I explained that in order to take advantage of portability the estate’s representative must make an affirmative election on a timely filed… Read More »
Portability: The Tax Election Every Surviving Spouse Must Consider
The Federal Estate Tax exemption for 2014 is $5.34 million. This means that if a decedent’s gross estate (plus past taxable gifts) is less than $5.34 million then filing a Federal Estate Tax Return (Form 706) is not required. However, a surviving spouse should always consider the option of electing to file a Federal… Read More »