Publications
Forbes: The 2020-2021 IRS Priority Guidance Plan
The IRS issued the Priority Guidance Plan for 2020-2021 on November 17, 2020. This plan contains the guidance projects that will be the focus of efforts during the 12-month period from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021 (referred to as the plan year). The 2020-2021 Priority Guidance Plan contains 191 guidance projects and, as of September 30, 2020, 57 guidance items have been released.
Forbes: What if A Beneficiary Becomes An Addict?
Since the beginning of sheltering-in-place in response to the pandemic, there have been concerns about the impact the response has had on drug and alcohol recovery programs and their clients. This is to the extent where some are seeing substance abuse as a “pandemic within a pandemic”. Filling the gap in available treatment is a policy issue that has to be addressed by society, but trusts can be drafted so as to increase the likelihood of long term (2+ years) recovery from less than 25% to 92%.
Forbes: Cut Through The Fog: Ten Tests For A Family Business’ Succession Plan
How many know that your estate planning is the strategy to achieve your goals for growth, control, protection and succession?
An estate planning strategy of complexity for the sake of tax savings and starving the family for income to avoid debt will not achieve your goals in the future, since it has nothing to do with preserving the company as a going concern. Tactics used by professionals, such as the use of Family Limited Partnerships, are all about tax and debt avoidance. The estate plan will render your client’s strategies ineffective if your goal is to transfer control of the company intact in the future. Being able to test whether the estate plan works in your overall strategy both before and during implementation allows you to avoid much of the cost and delays of change after implementation.
Forbes: Flexibility is Key to Planning for LGBTQ, Blended Families, Cohabitation and Other Nontraditional Families
Some people are concerned that, with the new conservative 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court, that protections for non-traditional families will be rolled back. Regardless of the decisions at the Supreme Court, or the impact on the state family courts, there are many ways that non-traditional families can maintain control. This applies not only to the LBGTQ couples, but also for families where there is gay divorce, blended families and stepchildren, nonmarital cohabitation, single parents by choice, multinational families, children born through assisted reproductive technologies (ART); and transgender, or gender non-binary, or gender fluid individuals.
Forbes: What A Difference A Year Makes! Income Tax Changes Since December 2019
What a difference a year makes! Even before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year, there have been changes to the income tax code with a significant impact on individual taxpayers. Here is a reminder of those significant changes and how they might affect you.
Forbes: New Sanctions Announced For Art Deals With Sanctioned Persons
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued an advisory on sanctions risks arising from dealings in high-value artwork associated with persons blocked pursuant to OFAC’s authorities, including persons on OFAC’s List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons. This applies to art galleries, museums, private art collectors, auction companies, agents, brokers, and other participants in the art market because high-value artwork transactions may play a role in blocked persons accessing the U.S. market and financial system in violation of OFAC regulations.
Forbes: Jacob Lawrence’s ‘Struggle’ - What To Do Before Your Art Becomes Famous
Hillary Sheets reported in the New York Times on the recent discovery of the 1956 Jacob Lawrence work “Struggle”, a long thought lost piece of a series of 30 paintings on the nation’s early history. The owners of the piece purchased the work at a charity auction in 1960 and knew who the artist was, but not the significance, of the painting. A sharp-eyed visitor to the Metropolitan Art Museum alerted the owners to the meaning of the painting in the broader context of Lawrence’s work and the Museum to its existence. The owners are not art collectors. The work is now famous, and estimated to be worth in the seven figures and so a significant asset. So, other than having keen-eyed friends to alert you to what you have, how can you find out if you have such artwork?
Forbes: Handling Debts in an Estate
The financial stress on both families and businesses as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic means an increasing level of debt for both. In reviewing estate plans today, one of the issues to consider is what would happen if a client who has significant debts, or is liable for debts incurred by their business, suddenly falls ill and dies? There is a process for handling debts of a decedent in estates, but it requires careful planning.