John Dedon Named to The Best Lawyers in America© list for 2019

I am pleased to announce that I have been included in the 2019 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©  in the Trusts and Estates category. This is my seventh consecutive year making the Best Lawyers® list.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Almost 87,000 industry leading lawyers are eligible to vote (from around the world), and Best Lawyers have received almost 10 million evaluations on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world. For the 2019 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©, 7.8 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in almost 60,000 leading lawyers being included in the new edition. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.” 

Mr. Crummey: A Legend in Gift and Estate Tax

I have previously written about the $15,000 annual exclusion, and Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (“ILIT’S”). ILIT’S are created primarily to own life insurance and remove the death benefit from the insured’s taxable estate. To achieve the desired estate tax benefit, premiums must be paid by the Trustee on behalf of the ILIT as the policy… Read »

Using Irrevocable Trusts to Eliminate Estate Tax on Insurance

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 »

Asset Titling and Beneficiary Designations – As Important as Your Estate Documents

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 »

Don’t Forget the Basics: Annual Exclusion Gifts

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 »

Special Needs Trusts: Estate Planning is more than Tax Planning

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 »