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 [...]
Represented couple with the preparation of a comprehensive review and update of their estate plan. Both spouses in this second marriage had children from their prior marriages and maintained both separate and combined finances. DeAngelis Legal identified significant issues, including estate tax implications and inequities in their proposed structure, proposed potential solutions and drafted the [...]
Despite elevated interest rates, real estate acquisitions in Arizona continue to dominate our transaction practice. DeAngelis Legal created several new limited liability companies (LLCs) for new and current clients, to acquire and hold real estate. In addition to forming holding companies, DeAngelis Legal advised the clients with respect to the preparation of leases to third [...]
In two separate matters, a new client’s spouse unexpectedly died, leaving behind a will and trust that was outdated and adversely impacted the surviving spouse upon the death of the first spouse. In both instances, the decedent failed to review or update their estate plan with legal counsel. DeAngelis Legal discussed potential solutions with the [...]
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission issued its final rule banning noncompetition (noncompete) provisions for all workers as an unfair method of competition. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has vowed to challenge the ruling, but employers need to start understanding the law and how it will impact their documents and their worker’s rights. [...]
