Does your estate plan look like this old mine? The pieces are there, but you just don’t know if it is going to work. Not all things stand the test of time, and that includes estate plans. Is it time to review your estate plan? DeAngelis Legal has updated and administered estate plans drafted before [...]
Estate Planning Update January 2025 2024 Annual Gift Tax Exclusion: increased to $19,000 per donor, per donee. 2024 Gift and Estate Tax Exemption: increased to $13,990,000 per donor through 2025 (an increase of $380,000). See paragraph 6 below. Marital Deduction for Transfers to U.S. Spouse: remains unlimited. 2024 Generation Skipping Tax Exemption: increased to $13,990,000 [...]
Long time Phoenix entrepreneurs started a new business venture and engaged DeAngelis Legal to assist with the preparation of a comprehensive operating agreement between the current owners and a phantom stock incentive plan for key employees. The operating agreement contained transfer restrictions, modified voting rights, buy-out provisions upon death, disability, bankruptcy and deadlock, a mechanism [...]
The Corporate Transparency Act dominated our days in November as clients dissolved unused entities, updated current entities and considered changes to their corporate structure. Making sure each entity’s records conformed with the records of the Arizona Corporation Commission and Secretary of State’s office turned out to be a larger project than most anticipated. In the [...]
On December 3, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) and its reporting rule (“Reporting Rule”). This ruling effectively halts the requirement for reporting companies to disclose beneficial ownership information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network [...]
An irrevocable trust held title to vacation properties and an operating fund used for family reunions. The trustee engaged DeAngelis Legal to assist with the trust administration. Certain members of the family desired to continue to use the property, while others were ready to liquidate the trust and distribute the proceeds. Unfortunately, title to the [...]
Phoenix high net worth couple on their second marriage engaged DeAngelis Legal to update their estate plan prepared by another prominent estate planning law firm. In addition to incorporating their changes, DeAngelis Legal reviewed their current plan, updated the language and eliminated ambiguous and sometime conflicting provisions between documents. DeAngelis Legal also worked with their [...]
Connelly and Buy-Sell Agreements – Is it time for a new strategy? On June 6, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States decided the case of Connelly v. United States, 144 S. Ct. 1406. The Connelly decision significantly impacts business succession planning using buy-sell agreements funded with life insurance. The Court (i) disregarded the valuation [...]
Estate Planning Update July 2024 2024 Annual Gift Tax Exclusion: increased to $18,000 per donor, per donee. 2024 Gift and Estate Tax Exemption: increased to $13,610,000 per donor through 2025 (an increase of $690,000). See paragraph 6 below. Marital Deduction for Transfers to U.S. Spouse: remains unlimited. 2024 Generation Skipping Tax Exemption: increased to $13,610,000 [...]
Surviving spouse was surprised to learn that the revocable trust created by the couple 10+ years ago became irrevocable upon the 1st spouse’s death. In addition, the trust split the couple’s assets and allocated half to a trust where the surviving spouse only had limited rights to the assets. After reviewing the survivor’s alternatives, DeAngelis [...]
