Hani Sarji - Future of Estate Confusion

[EOC]Declining Health Is Scary: Estate And Financial Planning Can Protect You

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:50:10 +0000

When your health starts to decline, you start to lose control and certainty. Having a comprehensive estate and financial plan in place can give you some control and certainty. Over 120 million Americans are living with a chronic illness, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, COPD, Parkinson’s Disease, or Multiple Sclerosis. If you are one of these [...]

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[EOC]Estate And Financial Planning For People Living With Multiple Sclerosis

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 01:25:34 +0000

People living with multiple sclerosis can have estate and financial plans that are customized for their illness. This was not always the case. When Patti was diagnosed with MS in 2006, her life changed. But her estate and financial plans did not reflect these changes. In fact, when Patti’s husband, Martin, searched for ways to [...]

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[EOC]Bumpy Road Ahead For Estate Planners

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:05:38 +0000

The estate planning profession is headed toward a “new normal,” informs an ad for a webinar for estate planners, and estate planners should “register now” to get the “tools” they “need to thrive in the new normal.” The webinar is titled, Bumpy Road Ahead to the New Normal: Are You Ready for the Challenge? It is [...]

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[EOC]Steve Jobs Dies In Year With 35% Estate Tax

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:07:42 +0000

The brilliant, awe-inspiring billionaire, the co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs has passed at the age of 56. There still are no reports of his estate plan, but one can safely presume that it was well thought out. There have been some articles criticizing Jobs’ supposed lack of charitable giving. Now we should be able to [...]

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[EOC]Kinder, Gentler IRS Provides Deadline Relief For 2010 Heirs

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 05:20:37 +0000

On September 13, 2011, the IRS released Notice 2011-76, which gives executors of estates of 2010 decedents more time to make an informed decision about whether to stay in the default estate tax regime for 2010 or opt out of the estate tax entirely. The estate tax was repealed for most of 2010. But on [...]

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[EOC]IRS Makes Bereaved Families Wait, Then Hurry Up

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 13:25:01 +0000

On September 8, 2011, the IRS released the long-awaited estate tax return and instructions for 2010 decedents: Form 706 & Instructions for Form 706. Due date Generally, executors must file Form 706 within 9 months after a person dies. But for people who died between January 1, 2010 and December 16, 2010, Form 706 is [...]

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[EOC]Roundup Of Posts By Deborah L. Jacobs

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:00:03 +0000

Forbes recently added Deborah L. Jacobs as senior editor of the investing channel. Jacobs is a lawyer; an award-winning journalist; an author of the best-selling book, Estate Planning Smarts: A Practical, User-Friendly Action-Oriented Guide; an entrepreneur; a mother; a wife; and a baby boomer. We are fortunate to have Jacobs as senior editor because Jacobs’ [...]

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[EOC]Tax Deadlines For 2010 Deaths? IRS Finally Issues Guidance

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 23:30:02 +0000

On August 5, 2011, the IRS published long-awaited guidance for executors of estates of people who died in 2010. Notice 2011-66 explains how these executors can opt out of the estate tax, and Revenue Procedure 2011-41 explains the special tax rules that apply to assets when executors opt out of the estate tax. The estate [...]

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[EOC]How To Cut State Death Taxes — Without Moving

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:30:04 +0000

Currently, the District of Columbia and 22 states impose a state death tax. Taxpayers in these state have an opportunity to reduce and even avoid state death taxes by making gifts while they are alive. Many believe that the only way they can avoid state death taxes is by moving to a state that has [...]

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[EOC]Let Freedom Ring With Gift Of Firearms

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:05:39 +0000

My previous post highlights how Americans are generous, despite a challenging economy. An earlier post mentioned that donating firearms could help the donor, the donor’s family, the charitable organization, and all Americans who get a chance to appreciate and learn about historic treasures. A recent article bridges these ideas by showing that donating a firearm [...]

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[FFET]Insight into Obama-Republican deal and the estate tax

Hani Sarji — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:13:27 +0000

On December 6, 2010, President Obama announced that he reached a tentative deal with republicans to extend the Bush Tax Cuts and reform the federal estate tax. The writers and bloggers at Forbes.com have been covering the issue from many angles. Featured on the Forbes.com webpage are two of my recent blog posts: There are a number of other blog posts to mention, including: Brian Wingfield, How...

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[FFET]Ryan J. Donmoyer (Bloomberg): Return of Estate Tax Looms as Impediment to Extending Tax Cuts

Hani Sarji — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:50:40 +0000

On November 29, 2010, Bloomberg published Return of Estate Tax Looms as Impediment to Extending Tax Cuts, by Ryan J. Donmoyer. Donmoyer highlights different proposals for estate tax reform: With Obama planning to meet with bipartisan congressional leaders at the White House tomorrow, three main factions have formed in the Senate, none of which has the 60 votes needed to advance an estate-tax...

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[FFET]Rep. Pence and Sen. DeMint proposed legislation to permanently repeal the federal estate tax

Hani Sarji — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 18:55:22 +0000

Rep. Mike Pence [R-IN-6] and Senator Jim DeMint [R-SC] recently introduced the Tax Relief Certainty Act -- H.R. 6415 (in the U.S. House of Representatives) and S. 3975 (in the Senate). The Tax Relief Certainty Act would permanently repeal the federal estate tax. According to Rep. Pence’s website, it would “[p]ermanently repeal the immoral and unfair death tax.” The Tax Relief Certainty Act...

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[FFET]Laura Saunders (WSJ): "lawmakers have pushed the estate tax to the backburner"

Hani Sarji — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 19:06:24 +0000

On November 20, 2010, the Wall Street Journal published How to Beat the Tax That Won't Die, by Laura Saunders. This article discusses how the “tax code is giving taxpayers an incentive not to live but to die.” It also provides a few estate planning strategies. The following insight about the state of estate tax reform is informative: Resolution is nowhere in sight, although Congress is...

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[FFET]Richard H. Thaler (NY Times) argues for 45% estate tax rate, $3.5M exemption (indexed for inflation)

Hani Sarji — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:55:03 +0000

On November 6, 2010, the New York Times published Estate Tax Issue Offers Quick Test for Congress, by Richard H. Thaler. The article appears in the Business section under “Economic View.” The article is Thaler’s view on the estate tax. Thaler is comfortable taxing the wealthy and giving tax breaks to the middle class: Right now, no one has any idea what rules will be in place in January — or...

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[FFET]Tom Herman (WSJ): "Nobody knows what will happen [to the estate tax] . . . But there is a compelling reason to expect some action"

Hani Sarji — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 17:23:11 +0000

Tom Herman answers the pressing question: What Will Happen to the Federal Estate Tax? (Wall Street Journal, 11/7/2010). Here is part of his answer: Q: In reading about what will happen to the Bush tax cuts in 2011, the federal estate tax is never mentioned, in my experience. Why so, and what should we expect? —N.M., Santa Cruz, Calif. A: The strange saga of the federal estate tax, dubbed the...

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[FFET]Kay Bell: "Now it's looking like there will be a true fight to kill the [estate] tax forever."

Hani Sarji — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 17:07:49 +0000

On November 4, 2010, Kay Bell posted Will the estate tax stay dead? on Taxes Blog (a Bankrate.com blog). Bell writes that because of the mid-term election results, "it's looking like there will be a true fight to kill the tax forever": Pre-election conventional wisdom was that Congress would keep the estate tax, but bump up the exemption amount to $3.5 million and drop the tax rate to 45...

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