Dedon Article in Estate Planning Magazine

Irrevocable Trusts, “ILIT” – short for Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust – are created to own life insurance policies. The significant advantage of having insurance policies owned inside an ILIT is that the death proceeds are not included in the insured’s taxable estate upon his death. Further, the death proceeds are not taxable in the surviving… Read »

When individuals consider how assets pass upon death, they immediately think of Wills (and perhaps Revocable Trusts for probate avoidance). What often is not considered, and even misunderstood, is that even if individuals have executed valid Wills, their wishes may not be respected. Why – because those estate documents will not generally supersede asset titling… Read »

The annual exclusion gift amount remains at $15,000 for 2019. The annual exclusion gift is the amount that you can give to any recipient during the calendar year without gift tax consequence. For example, in 2019, if husband and wife have two children, they each can give $15,000 to each child, total of $60,000. Upon… Read »

Estate planning involves more than avoiding probate and estate taxes. Probate can be avoided by using Revocable Living Trusts. Estate taxes are not a concern for most U.S. taxpayers with the gift and estate tax exemption now at $11.4 million per person. Because of “portability,” a husband and wife can either gift or pass upon… Read »

The 2019 inflation adjusted amount for the federal gift and estate tax exemption is now $11.4 million per person. Because of “portability,” a husband and wife can either gift or pass upon death $22.8 without paying any gift or estate tax, regardless of how assets are titled among spouses. The $11.4 amount increased from the… Read »