The IRS has announced the imposition of a new PTIN (practitioner tax identification number) user fee. The proposed regulations require tax practitioners to pay $21 (plus a vendor fee) to obtain, or renew, their PTIN. This is a marked reduction from the previous (pre-suspension) $33 fee, which...

In Matter of Kramer, the Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed Surrogate Renee Roth's decision that held QTIP remainder-men were liable for the estate tax attributable to the trust corpus because the tax apportionment clause contained in the decedent's LWT was not sufficiently detailed...

In the last five years, the D.C. Circuit has considered multiple cases regarding the scope of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)'s power to regulate tax return preparers. In the most recent case, Montrois v. United States, the court held that the IRS has statutory authority to require tax return...

Perhaps the most flexible estate planning tool is the annual gift tax exclusion. The annual exclusion, when properly used as part of a larger estate planning program, can significantly increase the size of the donor's estate that ultimately reaches the beneficiaries. When combined with the...

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has reversed the Tax Court's decision in 'Estate of Robertson v. Commissioner' and allowed the estate a marital deduction for the interest of the decedent's surviving spouse in two residuary trusts. The appellate court reasoned that the estate was...

One of the most significant post-mortem planning techniques available is the disclaimer. For example, disclaimers can increase the value of the marital deduction (disclaimers in favor of the surviving spouse), reduce the value of an overfunded marital bequest (disclaimers by the surviving...

In the Estate of Hubert, a divided Supreme Court held that certain administrative expenses could be deducted, for income tax purposes, without a corresponding reduction in the amount claimed for the estate tax marital deduction. While the determination of the precise amount was left unclear, the...

Two recent decisions that considered the consequences of disclaimers highlight the need for estate practitioners to exercise care their use in estate administration. In Estate of Monroe, disclaimers that complied with all relevant technical requirements were, nevertheless, held invalid by the...

Two recent Surrogate's Court decision have held that life insurance proceeds are not testamentary substitutes pursuant to EPTL section 5-1.1-A, for the purpose of computing a spousal statutory right of election. Both decisions reached this conclusion despite the well-documented legislative...

In Estate of Maxwell, a divided Second Circuit affirmed the Tax Court's decision that a sale-leaseback of a personal residence resulted in the retention of a de facto life estate and, accordingly, required the FMV of the property to be included in the decedent's gross estate pursuant to section...