While planning for your estate addresses many concerns, likely providing your loved ones is at the top of the list. But what if you can fully trust your loved ones to use your gifts wisely and to take care of themselves responsibly? One common alternative is to cut those problem cases out of the will through disinheritance. Nevertheless, as a recent New York Times article points out, those problem cases are all the more reason to make proper estate plans to protect your legacy and to use the inheritance to promote positive change. Problem cases for inheritances aren’t all “problem”…
It would be an understatement to say that the federal estate tax is in a state of flux. The current rules, with the generous $5 million individual exemption ($10 million for a couple), expire at the end of 2012. Last month, the Treasure Department released the “General Explanations of the Administrations’ Fiscal Year 2012 Revenue Proposals,” also known as the “Greenbook.” Perusal of the Greenbook reveals that the Obama Administration will be seeking to make some big estate tax changes. Return the Gift, Estate, and Generation-Skipping Transfer (GST) taxes to 2009 levels. The Greenbook proposes that in 2013 the exemptions…