What Does the Demise of DOMA Mean for Floridians?

By mahearn | October 8, 2013

What Does the Demise of DOMA mean for Floridians? Section 3 of the of the Defense of Marriage Act (commonly known as DOMA) amended the Dictionary Act in Title 1, Section 7 of the United States Code to define “marriage” as only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife…

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IRS RECOGNIZES ALL SAME SEX MARRIAGES

By mahearn | August 29, 2013

Today, the United States Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued a very significant and consequential ruling, Revenue Ruling 2013-17, addressing tax issues arising from the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision of U.S. v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675, issued on June 26, 2013. For federal tax purposes, the IRS will now recognize all same-sex…

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GRAT IT WHILE YOU STILL CAN

By mahearn | April 12, 2013

We previously posted on planning strategies that work really well in this current low interest rate environment.  In that post, we discussed the grantor retained annuity trust (“GRAT”).  In summation, a GRAT pays an annuity to the grantor for a specified term of years (the “retained interest”) with the balance at the end of the…

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Annual Exclusion for Gifts Increases to $14,000 in 2013

By mahearn | October 18, 2012

As predicted, the gift tax annual exclusion amount will be increased from $13,000 in 2012 to $14,000 in 2013.  The IRS announced the change today.  Below is the relevant excerpt from Rev. Proc. 2012-41 that will be published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin on November 5. .19 Annual Exclusion for Gifts. (1) For calendar year…

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Till Divorce Do Us Part – Florida’s New Beneficiary Designation Law

By mahearn | August 20, 2012

Both the Florida Probate Code and the Florida Trust Code  provide that upon a dissolution or annulment of marriage, a provision of a will or revocable trust affecting the decedent’s former spouse is void and the will and trust are administered as though such former spouse predeceased the decedent.  But what happens to the decedent’s…

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Wimmer, a Gift Tax Trimmer for Income Producing Family Limited Partnerships

By mahearn | July 13, 2012

In the Estate of George H. Wimmer v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the U.S. Tax Court held that gifts of limited partnership interests made over a series of years qualified for the Federal gift tax annual exclusion under Code section 2503(b) notwithstanding the partnership transfer restrictions imposed by the partnership agreement. The Wimmer family created…

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