On August 29, 2013, the IRS issued an announcement (Rev. Rul. 2013-72 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-13-17.pdf ) ruling that it will treat same-sex couples, legally married in jurisdictions that recognize their marriages, as married for federal tax purposes. Importantly, the ruling applies regardless of whether the couple lives in a jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriage or a jurisdiction that does not recognize same-sex marriage.
On December 17, 2010, Congress enacted what we know as the 2010 Tax Act, changing the estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) tax regime. Before the passage of the Act, the federal estate tax exemption – the amount that an individual can pass to his or her beneficiaries tax-free – increased in steps from $675,000 per individual in 2001 to, ultimately, $3.5 million per individual in 2009. In 2010, the federal estate tax was eliminated; but only temporarily. Under prior law, the federal estate tax was scheduled to return in 2011 with a maximum tax rate of 55 percent and a $1 million exemption, meaning that if a decedent’s estate exceeded $1 million, such excess would be taxed at a 55 percent rate.
The Kennedy Family has been in the news for more than 80 years, since Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. was a United States Ambassador. And with the history of the family, there have been no shortage of “teachable” moments from which the public could learn how to and how not to act.
Dear “Ask The Attorney”: My lawyer did not date my will and said it doesn’t need one. Is that correct? I went to the bank and got a notarized statement that my will was made on that date, am I covered? Uncle Ed Our guest blogger is Gary R. Botwinick, […]
