Issue #3: After The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act - The Marital Deduction Provisions - 5 Clauses (13 Pages)

Marital Deduction is Issue #3 of the 8 issues covered within: 24 Clauses For 8 Estate Planning Opportunities After the Tax Cuts And Jobs Act (45 Pages). 

Issue #3: The Marital Deduction Provisions
Clause 1: Marital Share Outright to Surviving Spouse
Clause 2: Marital Share Outright to Surviving Spouse with Disclaimer Path to a Trust for the Benefit of the Surviving Spouse for Life;  then to Children in Three Increments at Ages 25, 30 and 35.
Clause 3: Allow the Executor to Exercise Discretion to Determine the Optimal Funding of the Marital and Credit Shelter Portions of the Estate. The So-Called “Clayton QTIP Clause”.
Clause 4: Marital Deduction Share Using General Power of Appointment Trust
Clause 5: Marital Share Using Qualified Terminable Interest Property Trust (QTIP Trust)

The passage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has heralded a new era in estate planning. The greatly increased transfer tax exclusion to $11.18 million, indexed for inflation, is effective from 2018 through 2025, when it is suspended, and returns to the 2017 levels, indexed for inflation. Taking into account political risk, the opportunity to take advantage of the 2017 law could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Portability is retained. Estate tax planning is “simplified” for many people. Seeking optimal income tax basis adjustments is a goal for everyone. 

That said, however, for many people, the need for trusts and more sophisticated planning may not be just a matter of tax planning. That has been simplified. However, issues of asset protection, management, blended families, state death taxes, providing for multi-generations of a family, etc. have not vanished with the passage of the 2017 Act. Instead, planners now have more options to present to clients – options that require careful selection and preparation of the Forms needed to address a wide variety of planning issues.

Alternatively, save when you purchase all Clauses For Estate Planning Opportunities After The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (45 Pages).

 Author: 
Steven G. Siegel is president of The Siegel Group, which provides consulting services to attorneys, accountants, business owners, family offices and financial planners. Based in Morristown, New Jersey, the Group provides services throughout the United States. Mr. Siegel is the author of many books, including: The Grantor Trust Answer Book (2012 and 2013 CCH); CPA’s Guide to Financial and Estate Planning (AICPA 2012); and Federal Fiduciary Income Taxation (Foxmoor 2012). In conjunction with numerous tax planning lectures he has delivered for the National Law Foundation, Mr. Siegel has prepared extensive lecture materials on the following subjects: Planning for An Aging Population; Business Entities: Start to Finish; Preparing the Audit-Proof Federal Estate Tax Return; Business Acquisitions: Representing Buyers and Sellers in the Sale of a Business; Dynasty Trusts; Planning with Intentionally-Defective Grantor Trusts, Introduction to Estate Planning; Intermediate-Sized Estate Planning; Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid: Explanation and Planning Strategies; Subchapter S Corporations: Using Trusts as Shareholders; Divorce and Separation: Important Tax Planning Issues; The Portability Election; Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax: A Comprehensive Review; and many other titles. Mr. Siegel has delivered hundreds of lectures to thousands of attendees in live venues and via webinars throughout the United States on tax, business and estate planning topics on behalf of numerous organizations, including The Heckerling Institute on Tax Planning, CCH, National Law Foundation, AICPA, Western CPE, the National Society of Accountants, the National Tax Institute, Cohn-Reznick, Professional Education Systems, Inc., Foxmoor Education, many State Accounting Societies and Estate Planning Councils as well as on behalf of private companies. He is presently serving as an adjunct professor of law in the Graduate Tax Program (LLM) of the University of Alabama, and has served as an adjunct professor of law at Seton Hall and Rutgers University law schools. Mr. Siegel holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University (magna cum laude, phi beta kappa), a juris doctor from Harvard Law School and an LLM in taxation from New York University Law School.