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21 March
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Thoughts on Estate Planning and Over-Seas Flights

Posted by Mark L. Dodds
in Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Probate

Imagine that you are preparing to fly an airplane from Los Angeles to Honolulu. You know that airplane engines need to be serviced and overhauled after a certain number of hours of operation and you also know that the plane you are going to fly to Honolulu, over 3,000 miles of open water, has not been serviced recently. Would you choose to ignore the service requirements of the engines of that airplane, knowing that  you have only one chance to get it right and that failure is not a viable option, particularly when that plane must travel non-stop for 3,000...

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20 March
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Protect Your Home with a Personal Residence Trust

Posted by Mark L. Dodds
in Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Trust Administration

For most of us (at least up until the real estate crash of 2007-2008!) our major asset is our home and the “equity” we have in our home, which is the excess of the value of the home over the mortgage against it. While it is possible to file a “homestead” to protect our home equity, even if the homestead will, for now cover our home equity against possible creditors, there are certain risks that the homestead cannot protect against. The good news is that with recent court rulings, we can confidently establish Nevada personal residence trusts, qualified personal residence...

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12 February
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The Nevada Onshore Trust: It’s Also An Estate Tax Planning Tool

Posted by David M. Grant
in Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Estate Tax Planning

A full copy of Mr. Grant's article can be found here: The Onshore Trust as an Estate Tax Planning Tool. In his article he answers the question, what is an onshore trust?  He also explains the benefits and downsides of using an onshore trust vs. an offshore trust.  The article also examines some tax planning ideas to be considered as one goes about forming a Nevada onshore trust or self-settled spendthrift trust, as they are sometimes called.  Lastly, Mr. Grant provides some estate planning techniques and suggestions. This article, The Onshore Trust as an Estate Tax Planning Tool, was written by David Grant while he was...

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07 February
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Migrating the Domestic Asset Protection Trust Offshore

Posted by David M. Grant
in Asset Protection, Estate Planning

On October 2, 2009 Attorney David M. Grant presented an article, "Migrating the Domestic Asset Protection Trust Offshore," at the Annual Southpac Offshore Planning Institute in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The full article can be found here: Migrating the Domestic Trust Offshore. The article discusses techniques for trust migration or trust redomiciliation.  It also provides reasons for using a domestic asset protection trust prior to going offshore.  Moreover, the article provides the following chart explaining the specific rules relating to trust migration for particular offshore jurisdictions: Jurisdiction Governing Law Inbound Migration Outbound Migration Anguilla Anguilla Trusts Ordinance Allowed if recognized by previous governing law Allowed if recognized by the new governing law...

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06 February
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Sunshine Laws in University Presidential Searches

Posted by David M. Grant
in Grant Morris Dodds

While Mr. Grant was a law student he wrote a paper regarding the law and higher education.  The full version of his paper can be found here: Sunshine Laws in University Presidential Searches. The introductory section is reproduced here: "It is often said that selecting a new president is the most important duty entrusted to a governing university board.[1] Thus, most presidential searches at universities are generally conducted using the same time-tested, similarly-formulated process.[2] This process in most cases begins almost immediately following the announcement that the current president is stepping down[3] and may continue for up to one year or more.[4] The...

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06 February
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WHY ESTATE PLANNING STILL MATTERS

Posted by Mark L. Dodds
in Estate Planning

For many years, estate tax planning was a fairly insignificant area of tax law, primarily because there were not that many people who had estates to tax. But with the advent in 1981 of what is known as the “Unlimited Marital Deduction”, and with the increase in the estate tax exemption from less than $100,000 in 1981 to $600,000 by 1987, coupled with a general increase in wealth, primarily resulting from booming stock markets and real estate markets in the 1980’s, 1990’s and well into the 2000’s, estate tax planning came to the forefront. At the same time, income tax...

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31 January
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Don’t Forget about Annual Exclusion Gifting

Posted by David M. Grant
in Estate Tax Planning

As published yesterday in LISI Estate Planning Newsletter #2056 (January 30, 2013).* With all eyes focused on a potential “fiscal cliff” in the last quarter of 2012, some might have missed the IRS’ October 18, 2012 announcement of an increase in the gift amount allowable under the annual exclusion.  See Rev. Proc. 2012-41.  In 2013 a person will be able to give $14,000 to each donee, free of gift tax.  While as of late planners have largely been concerned with helping clients make larger gifts under the unified credit, this announcement reminds us of our old friend—the annual exclusion.  This article...

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22 January
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Real Taxpayer Relief through Judicious Use of Trusts

Posted by Mark L. Dodds
in Trust Administration

With the recent enactment of the so-called “American Taxpayer Relief Act” (the only true relief being that we are at least relieved of having to listen to the talking heads every day discussing the “fiscal cliff”) tax rates have been increased on those with the highest incomes. (Note, I did not write that taxes were increased on the “wealthy” because the proponents of higher taxes, such as the magnificent duo of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, will hardly be affected by the increases because i) they have very little income in relation to their wealth, so their income taxes are...

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17 January
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Cayman Islands to open up to increased scrutiny

Posted by David M. Grant
in Asset Protection

It was reported earlier today that the Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, has outlined plans to create for the first time a public database of funds domiciled in the Islands.  As proposed, the public database would also include a listing of fund directors.  It appears that directors might even be subject to a vetting process to ensure they are qualified to act as fiduciaries for investors.  Interestingly enough, it is being reported that most of the push to change has come from hedge fund investors, rather than politicians.  Click here for more details on the recent Cayman proposals. The Cayman Islands has...

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16 January
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$5,250,000: the 2013 inflation adjusted gift/estate/GST exemption

Posted by David M. Grant
in Estate Tax Planning

The IRS announced yesterday in Rev. Proc. 2013-15 (see page 11, item 13), that the 2013 inflation-adjusted exemption equivalent of the unified credit is $5,250,000.  In other words, for an estate of any decedent dying during calendar year 2013, the basic exclusion amount is $5,250,000 for determining the amount of the unified credit against estate tax under Internal Revenue Code §2010.  This amount is up $130,000 from 2012 when the total exemption equivalent was $5,120,000....

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