
1 minute read
Herbein + Company, Inc
that you need your Agent, Executor and/or Trustee to have to carry out your wishes. An experienced and resourceful estate planning and tax attorney will write your documents in such a way (using, for example, Trust Protector appointments and other useful tools) to promote maximum flexibility for even irrevocable documents.
4. Understand Federal and relevant state tax laws as they apply to your IRAs and Qualified Retirement Plans.
Maintain up-to-date Beneficiary Designations. Any tax professional well-versed in Federal tax law knows that the law applicable to retirement plans and distributions was complex long before the SECURE Act was passed in 2019.
The SECURE Act substantially increased the retirement plan distribution laws. The SECURE Act contains several areas of ambiguity. Proposed Treasury Regulations were issued in February 2022 to clarify these areas, but those
Regulations are not yet final. It is imperative that you and your estate planning attorney understand your options and requirements under current Federal tax law with regard to your IRA's and any Qualified Retirement Plans in which you are a participant. This is particularly important if your estate plan uses a trust or trusts to direct those retirement plans at your death.
5. Understand how upcoming changes in Federal and state income tax and death tax laws will affect you and your
family. A significant reduction in the applicable exemption to the Federal Estate and Gift tax is scheduled for the end of 2025, barring any intervening changes by Congress.
And momentous changes in IRS operations and initiatives appear to be forthcoming.
6. Provide for jurisdictional changes in your documents.
Many estate planners are seeing increased mobility and residency changes among both younger and mature clients. This trend requiresgreater legal and tax planning scrutiny in crafting an effective estate plan with optimal tax-saving strategies.