As everyone knows by now, last week the US Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court struck down DOMA, holding that the Federal government cannot bar States from recognizing same sex marriage. While there were many implications stemming from this decision, one […]
It’s no secret that there are tax advantages to being married. I for one was excited when I got married because that meant I only had to file one joint return instead of two separate returns each year. While that’s just more of a time saver, there are many monetary advantages to being married. One […]
In the last post I discussed how some estate planning tools continue to be beneficial to certain individuals for the reason that they were not addressed, or more appropriately not restricted nor eliminated, in the American Taxpayer Relief Act. The first post of this series was about grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), which are a […]
After months of uncertainty and debate about what changes would be made to the Federal estate and gift tax (transfer tax), the newly minted American Taxpayer Relief Act (the “Act”) has provided answers that many were anxiously awaiting. While many believed the estate and gift tax landscape would undergo significant change from the taxpayer-friendly laws […]
