The 40th Annual Estate Planning Conference, held as usual in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, just concluded. Below are three takeaways we believe you’ll find useful in your practice. FLP Entities John W. Porter, an experienced tax litigator with Baker Botts LLP in Houston, Texas spoke on several topics including family limited partnership style entities. There were a number of takeaways but a good summary is still “respect the entity.” Too many families treat these as personal bank accounts rather than business entities and do not get the results they hoped for. If your clients have these LLCs or LPs and […]
Read More
Stewart Law, P.A., a boutique corporate, trusts, and estates firm in Charlotte, North Carolina is proud to announce that Founding Partner, Todd A. Stewart has been recognized as Best Lawyers in America® 2020 in Charlotte, NC. The Best Lawyers in America® program is the oldest and among the most respected attorney ranking services in the world. Todd was selected in the trusts and estates category. Attorneys named to Best Lawyers lists are recognized by their peers in the legal industry for their professional excellence in specific practice areas. To read their recently released press release click here.
Read More
We receive more calls these days from clients who have parents, spouses or other loved ones dealing with temporary and permanent incapacity. In cases where the individual does not have an updated estate plan, these can be challenging. There are court-supervised processes that enable appointed individuals to act on behalf of incapacitated persons. The problems with these proceedings are many. First, the initial part, determining incapacity, can be trying as it is a public process designed to protect the individual who may be incapacitated. Normally multiple attorneys are involved to represent all the parties and interests in the case. In addition, […]
Read More
Divorce is detrimental in a number of emotional and financial ways and court cases continue to add to the list. The key question in a recent case was whether a person’s interest in his ex-spouse’s retirement accounts (e.g., through Qualified Domestic Relations Orders or QDROs) are protected as “retirement funds” under the federal bankruptcy code. This court again decided they are not protected. One message is that even though ERISA plans can provide certain bankruptcy protection for “participants” of retirement plans, this is not necessarily extended to alternate payees, such as beneficiaries who inherit them or ex-spouses. Planning Point: In […]
Read More
The U.S. Supreme Court recently handed down an important decision declaring North Carolina’s taxation of certain trusts unconstitutional. The name of the case is: NC Department of Revenue v. Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust. If you are a beneficiary of an out-of-state trust that was subject to taxation merely because a portion of the trust income was “for the benefit of” a North Carolina resident, then this decision likely impacts you, or at least the trust of which you are a beneficiary. In essence, the U.S. Supreme Court said that merely having a beneficiary in this state does not […]
Read More
Why would I be interested in Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs)? This new tax provision was created to spur investment in certain under-performing economic areas known as Qualified Opportunity Zones. You can find a map of North Carolina’s zones here. Investing in a QOZ is one of the few opportunities in the tax code to defer (and possibly eliminate) tax on gains. Thus, you can put the whole amount of your proceeds from a sale to work rather than the proceeds less income taxes. How long can I defer paying taxes on my gain? Until you sell or exchange your interest […]
Read More
