Estate Planning Update July 2026 2026 Annual Gift Tax Exclusion: remains $19,000 per donor, per donee. 2026 Gift and Estate Tax Exemption: increased to $15,000,000 per person this year (an increase of $110,000 per individual or $220,000 for a married couple) and made permanent. Marital Deduction for Transfers to U.S. Spouse: remains unlimited. 2026 Generation [...]
Mom died leaving various real estate investments to her children in trust. The children were also named as co-trustees. Unfortunately, mom made pre-death transfers to some of the children. The co-trustees engaged DeAngelis Legal to assist them to sort out the issues with these transfers. The issues addressed included: (1) determining if the pre-death transfers [...]
Widower in Phoenix died leaving three children as beneficiaries. Unfortunately, the widower made commitments benefiting one child over the others but failed to properly document the commitments. The trustee engaged DeAngelis Legal to assist him with the administration and resolve the conflicting interests of the siblings. In a refreshing result, the siblings were able to [...]
Winter usually results in several deaths, but this January DeAngelis Legal was hit especially hard with several long-time and beloved clients dying over the holidays triggering the provisions of their formerly revocable trusts. Over time, we develop an affinity for our clients and learn so much from them that we also grieve their premature death. [...]
You have the power (maybe). Financial powers of attorney allow you (the principal) to appoint someone you trust (the agent) to perform certain acts related to your financial affairs on your behalf. These instruments have a variety of uses, but are often used in the estate planning industry in in conjunction with, or in lieu [...]
Because the values of a married couple’s estate and the amount of the estate tax exemption change over time, estate planners commonly use formulas in a will or trust to avoid inadvertently triggering an estate tax on the first spouse’s death. These formulas divide a deceased person's assets between a marital share which qualifies for [...]
Estate Planning Update January 2026 2026 Annual Gift Tax Exclusion: remains $19,000 per donor, per donee. 2026 Gift and Estate Tax Exemption: increased to $15,000,000 per person this year (an increase of $110,000 per individual or $220,000 for a married couple) and made permanent. See paragraph 6(a) below. Marital Deduction for Transfers to U.S. Spouse: [...]
High net worth widow knew how she wanted her estate plan handled at death, but was not confident her estate planning attorney understood her desires and therefore had not updated her estate plan in years. After an in-depth review of her finances and objectives, DeAngelis Legal proposed a comprehensive estate plan which achieved her goals [...]
Husband and wife created a standard survivor’s bypass trust, with half the assets passing to the family of each spouse. Upon the death of the husband, this structure necessitated the valuation and allocation of the assets between the two trusts. While the couple had plenty of liquidity, the sheer number of entities and accounts made [...]
After updating his estate plan with DeAngelis Legal, a client inquired about alternatives for dealing with an irrevocable trust created by a prior law firm. DeAngelis Legal worked with the client to flush out his core concerns and objectives for his family, reviewed the trust instrument and applicable law to find alternatives and worked with [...]
