4Thought Blog

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Estate Planning: How to Save Taxes using the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax

Posted by Concannon Miller on Thu, Jan 10, 2019

Beneficial rules for the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax are currently in force, which may allow you to pass on assets to future generations without a federal tax bill.

GST Tax Basics

When it comes to arranging for gifts and bequests to loved ones, most planning strategies focus on avoiding or minimizing the federal gift and estate taxes. Rightly so. But there's one more piece to the puzzle. It's called the generation skipping transfer tax. The GST tax is intended to snare those who would try to foil the federal gift and estate tax system by transferring wealth to persons more than one generation younger than themselves (typically grandchildren).

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Topics: Individual tax planning, Estate and Trust Services

Estate Planning: How to Set up a Private Foundation to Save Taxes

Posted by Concannon Miller on Tue, Dec 18, 2018

Are you interested in setting up a private foundation?

With this approach, you make contributions to a foundation and get a charitable tax deduction just as you would with any qualified organization. Then, as the director, you decide which charities you want to make distributions to so you retain control of the assets.

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Topics: Individual tax planning, Estate and Trust Services

The New Tax Law & Your Estate Plan: Six Changes to Know

Posted by Concannon Miller on Tue, Jan 9, 2018

Effective January 1, 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) reduces individual and corporate tax rates, eliminates a host of deductions and credits, enhances other breaks and makes numerous additional changes.

One thing the TCJA doesn’t do is repeal the federal gift and estate tax, as originally contemplated by the House of Representative’s version of the bill. It does, however, temporarily double the combined gift and estate tax exemption and the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption, creating new estate planning challenges and opportunities.

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Topics: Estate and Trust Services, 2017 Federal Tax Reform

Serving as a Trustee for a Trust: What You Need to Know Before Committing

Posted by Tammie Yearwood on Tue, Sep 5, 2017

So many moments in our lives we come to a fork in the road. Should I or shouldn’t I? Left or right?

One of these crossroads may be a decision of whether or not to be named a trustee of a trust. It is not a decision to be made lightly. Before you decide whether to take on both the honor and responsibility of being a trustee, there are several factors to take into consideration which may help you in making that decision.

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Topics: Estate and Trust Services

Estate Planning: 9 Key Tips on Gift Taxes

Posted by Concannon Miller on Thu, Jul 20, 2017

For many people with large estates, planning ahead and gifting to family members can save a bundle in taxes. This ultimately means your heirs may get more and Uncle Sam may get less. But before you start stuffing checks in envelopes and passing them out to your loved ones, you should know the basics of gifting. This article explains the current rules.

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Topics: Estate and Trust Services

Births, Deaths and Divorce: Seven Reasons to Update Your Will

Posted by Concannon Miller on Thu, Jun 8, 2017

Even if you have a valid will, you may need to draft a new one for a variety of reasons. A will is an essential part of planning for the future.

But don't think creating a will is a one-time proposition. Here are seven reasons to strongly consider updating your will:

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Topics: Estate and Trust Services

Estate Planning: The Three Most Important Documents You Need

Posted by Tammie Yearwood on Thu, Feb 16, 2017

Establishing an estate plan is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones. In addition to saving taxes, it’s essential to ensure your assets will be distributed according to your wishes.

In many instances, people spend more time planning a family vacation than they do planning their estates. They look at estate planning as a burden instead of an opportunity. You’ve worked hard your whole life to provide for your family and make your loved ones more secure, so be sure to have an estate plan.

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Topics: Estate and Trust Services

Estate Planning: 10 Reasons to Plan for Your Family’s Future

Posted by Concannon Miller on Tue, Dec 27, 2016

If you already have a last will and testament, then you are among the minority of the population. Great planning! However, for those of you who do not have a will, we understand some of the reasons why you hesitate to formally plan your estate.

Here are some of the reasons people cite for not having a will, along with some arguments in favor of planning your estate:

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Topics: Estate and Trust Services

The Proposed Changes to Valuation Discounts for Family-Owned Businesses: An Update

Posted by Concannon Miller on Tue, Aug 30, 2016

The IRS recently issued new proposed regulations designed to reduce the ability to take valuation discounts on intra-family transfers of interests in privately-held businesses. These proposed regulations aim to reduce the ability to apply valuation discounts which can affect future estate and gift tax planning.

If the proposed regulations are finalized in their current form, they could profoundly change the landscape of estate and gift planning for family-owned businesses by making it harder to apply minority and marketability discounts based on liquidation restrictions.

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Topics: Business tax planning, Estate and Trust Services

Attention Family Businesses: IRS Seeks to Change Gift Tax Rules on Minority Interests

Posted by Concannon Miller on Thu, Aug 11, 2016

It used to be easier to minimize taxes when passing the business baton to the owners next generation, but the IRS is tightening regulations on transfers.

But there are steps you can still take to help ease the impact of transition for the future.

The IRS just issued new proposed regulations that are designed to reduce the ability to take valuation discounts on intra-family transfers of interests in privately-held businesses.

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Topics: Business tax planning, Estate and Trust Services

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