Upcoming Events

Year-end planning in 2024 is as important as ever. Looming changes to the tax code and market volatility provide excellent low-or-no-risk opportunities to reduce your clients’ tax burden. Start planning now to ensure you have the time to meet with clients, review their situation for ideas, and demonstrate your value. This class will provide, ideas, tips, and tools to act on before year-end to minimize your client’s tax
liabilities – including:

• Brief overview of potential rate changes
• Bracket management considering historically low rates, the scheduled sunset, and the potential
• changes
• Gain harvesting to capture a rate advantage and potential increase in the LTCG tax
•  The mathematics of loss harvesting
•  Advanced Roth conversions including sunset strategies
•  Back door Roth conversions
•  Rethinking itemized deductions and charitable contributions
•  SALT planning
•  Funding tax-preference accounts, including retirement plans and 529 accounts
•  Section 199A deduction proposed changes and planning
•  Converting interest income to capital gain income
•  Utilizing large loss carryforwards
•  How do charitable lead annuity trusts work: both grantor and non-grantor
•  How to use a CRT to smooth out income and diversity concentrated positions
•  How to use oil and gas to offset substantial income
•  AMT issues with oil and gas
•  How to use defined benefit pension plans
•  Roth conversions and the five-year rule
•  The $1,000 Roth conversion strategy for both plans and IRAs
•  Tax-aware investing and long-tern benefit
•  Maximize defined contribution plan savings
•  Non-deductible IRAs
•  Section 529 plans
•  Opportunity zones
•  Borrowing from life insurance
•  Accelerating small business tax deductions
•  Year-end estate and gift planning

Because of Sunset, Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts have become one of the most commonly-used and powerful planning techniques in the planner’s toolbox. In his exclusive LISI Webinar, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, AEP (Distinguished), will give you all you need to know about  on planning with SLATs, including:

• Understanding the key components of a SLAT, how they work and why they’re used
• Learn how the Reciprocal Trust Doctrine works and how to avoid it
• Why SLATs are efficient even for clients who won’t be subject to the estate tax, and more importantly, even when the unified credit is cut in half
• Why is it important to mix and match techniques like SLATs, DAPTs, hybrid DAPTs, and SPATs to get the best results for your clients?
• Understanding when a SLAT is taxed versus being disregarded and when to “toggle off” grantor tax status
• What are the most critical considerations for ensuring that clients maintain control/access to their trust assets
• Commons traps for the unwary in these commonly used trusts
• Common risk management and compliance issues that must be considered when using these trusts with clients
• Choosing the right situs and trustee
• Funding considerations and asset protection considerations
• Critical case studies that demonstrate all of the concepts mentioned above

Who should take this class? CPAs, attorneys,  financial planners and other professional financial planners who regularly deal with estate planning, tax and retirement planning issues.

Year-end planning in 2024 is as important as ever. Looming changes to the tax code and market volatility provide excellent low-or-no-risk opportunities to reduce your clients’ tax burden. Start planning now to ensure you have the time to meet with clients, review their situation for ideas, and demonstrate your value. This class will provide, ideas, tips, and tools to act on before year-end to minimize your client’s tax
liabilities – including:

• Brief overview of potential rate changes
• Bracket management considering historically low rates, the scheduled sunset, and the potential
• changes
• Gain harvesting to capture a rate advantage and potential increase in the LTCG tax
•  The mathematics of loss harvesting
•  Advanced Roth conversions including sunset strategies
•  Back door Roth conversions
•  Rethinking itemized deductions and charitable contributions
•  SALT planning
•  Funding tax-preference accounts, including retirement plans and 529 accounts
•  Section 199A deduction proposed changes and planning
•  Converting interest income to capital gain income
•  Utilizing large loss carryforwards
•  How do charitable lead annuity trusts work: both grantor and non-grantor
•  How to use a CRT to smooth out income and diversity concentrated positions
•  How to use oil and gas to offset substantial income
•  AMT issues with oil and gas
•  How to use defined benefit pension plans
•  Roth conversions and the five-year rule
•  The $1,000 Roth conversion strategy for both plans and IRAs
•  Tax-aware investing and long-tern benefit
•  Maximize defined contribution plan savings
•  Non-deductible IRAs
•  Section 529 plans
•  Opportunity zones
•  Borrowing from life insurance
•  Accelerating small business tax deductions
•  Year-end estate and gift planning

Family Issues and Goals

1. Understanding the State Property Law Issues
   1. Community Property Issues
   2. Forced Share Rights
   3. State Law UPIA
   4. Marital, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements
2. Role of ERISA
3. Role of THE RETIRMENT EQUITY ACT (“REA”)
4. Estate Tax Issues
   1. Federal Taxation
   2. State Taxation
5. Analysis of the Post-Mortem IRA Rules
   1. Qualified Plans
   2. IRAs
   3. Roth IRAs
6. Role of the Special EBD rules
7. Role of SECURE 2.0 – Act Section 327
8. Understanding the danger of a conduit trust
9. Analysis of State Law and UPIA
   1. What is Income?

i.      10% Rule

ii.        4% Rule

iii.      Traditional Income Rule

11. Fiduciary Income Tax Issues
    1. Taxation of IRA Distributions

i.      Traditional IRAs

ii.      Roth IRAs

iii.      Role of Basis

iv.      Taxation of NUA and Employer Securities

11. 2. How are Trust Distributions Taxed?
    3. How is Trapped Income Taxed
12. Best Creative Ideas
    1. The CRT for a Second Spouse
    2. Life insurance Trust for Spouse
    3. Roth Conversions During Marriage
    4. Out of State Trust Planning
    5. QTIP Trust to Reduce Estate Tax
    6. Portability Opportunities

One of the most difficult areas of estate planning is the intersection of income tax and estate tax. While many practitioners recognize that the IDGT sale is the cornerstone of planning for larger estates the income tax implications are not as clear as we would like them to be. This becomes very complex because we need to define the taxation during  the grantor’s life, at the grantor’s death and after the grantor dies.

In their exclusive LISI Webinar Jonathan Blattmachr and Bob Keebler will review the income tax aspects from three vantage points: during life, at the moment of death, and subsequent to a person’s death. In particular, they will review the following topics:

• Basis of gifted property
• Basis of property in death
• Special rules for IRD
• Understanding the impact of § 691(a) of the Code
• Understanding how §§ 1014 and 1015 work
• Examining the taxation of IDGT sales during life
• Examining the taxation of IDGT sales during life and examining the transactions subsequent to death
• Reviewing Madorin vs. Commissioner and Crane vs. Commissioner, two seminal cases in the world of IDGTs
• Planning for the death of the grantor with ordinary installment notes and with SCINs
• What happens at death when outside debt is greater than the taxpayer’s basis
• Understanding alternative theories espoused by the leading experts, including asymmetrical tax treatment of a basis increase and no gain
• Understanding note basis at death and after death
• Understanding CCA 200923024 and no recognition at death
• Understanding PLR 201245006 which provided for asymmetrical tax treatment
• IRS guidance project outstanding

Successfully Completing Form 8971 and Understanding the Basis Issues and Risks – UPDATED FOR – 09-16-24 FINAL REGULATIONS

THE IRS JUST ISSUED FINAL REGULATIONS FOR BASIS CONSISTENCY AFFECTING FORM 8971

The executor of any new estate required to file a Form 706 must understand the basis consistency rules. These final regulations and Form 8971 are an information reporting regime to maintain consistency between the values reported on an estate tax return and the income tax basis reported by beneficiaries. On the surface, the new reporting seems manageable; however, it can be quite complicated.  In his exclusive UPDATED LISI Webinar, Bob Keebler will discuss the many issues estate planners and administrators will need to work through to comply with the Code and protect the estate, beneficiaries, and themselves.

Revisions from the proposed regulations include (1) removing the zero basis rule for unreported property; (2) modifying the reporting requirements for property not acquired by a beneficiary before the estate tax return due date; (3) eliminating the subsequent transfer reporting requirement for all beneficiaries other than trustees; and (4) excepting additional types of property interests from the consistent basis requirements and the reporting requirements under section 6035 to name a few.

Bob will cover the following topics:

• Review the statutory source of the requirement: §§ 1014(f), 6035, 6662, and 6724
• In depth analysis of the final regulations
• Funding trusts and basis rules
• Changes to the Zero Basis Rule
• Probate litigation disclosure requirements
• When Form 8971 is required
• Understanding the exemptions
• Term interests and life estates
• Contingent interests
• After-discovered property
• The Subsequent Filing Requirement
• Assets with IRD, including IRAs
• Assets passing to charity
• Assets passing to a spouse

• Gift splitting elections
• Reverse QTIP elections
• Electing out of automatic GST allocations
• Valuation issues
• 5-year 529 plan elections
• Section 2642(c) chartible issues
• Section 691(c) issues
• Section 2013 PPT Credits
• Adequate disclosure rules
• Statute of limitations issues
• Section 2032A and alternative valuation date
• 754 partnership elections
• Understanding DNI
• Planning for Kenan gains
• And MUCH more

Because of Sunset, Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts have become one of the most commonly-used and powerful planning techniques in the planner’s toolbox. In his exclusive LISI Webinar, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, AEP (Distinguished), will give you all you need to know about  on planning with SLATs, including:

• Understanding the key components of a SLAT, how they work and why they’re used
• Learn how the Reciprocal Trust Doctrine works and how to avoid it
• Why SLATs are efficient even for clients who won’t be subject to the estate tax, and more importantly, even when the unified credit is cut in half
• Why is it important to mix and match techniques like SLATs, DAPTs, hybrid DAPTs, and SPATs to get the best results for your clients?
• Understanding when a SLAT is taxed versus being disregarded and when to “toggle off” grantor tax status
• What are the most critical considerations for ensuring that clients maintain control/access to their trust assets
• Commons traps for the unwary in these commonly used trusts
• Common risk management and compliance issues that must be considered when using these trusts with clients
• Choosing the right situs and trustee
• Funding considerations and asset protection considerations
• Critical case studies that demonstrate all of the concepts mentioned above

Who should take this class? CPAs, attorneys,  financial planners and other professional financial planners who regularly deal with estate planning, tax and retirement planning issues.

Learning the basics of the tax and how to complete the Form 706 will give you confidence to help your clients. In his exclusive LISI Webinar, Bob Keebler will review:

• Changes to the IRS Form 706;
• Sample Completed 706
• Framework of the Estate Tax – A Statutory Overview
• Community Property and Other Property Law Issues
• Litigation and Settlement Planning
• Protecting the Trustee and Personal Representative
• Post-mortem Tax Planning
• Presenting Income Tax Liabilities and Refunds
• Special Valuation Rules for Charity, AVD and More
• QTIP and Reverse QTIP Elections
• Understanding Common GST Issues
• Qualified Disclaimer Issues
• The Qualified Appraisal Issue
• Reviewing Appraisal and Valuation Adjustments
• How to successfully navigate the form
• The ins and outs of the “Portability” rules;
• How the portability rules actually work using common examples
• Filing Protective Claims Properly and Timely
• The Limitations of Form PC
• Substantial Authority and Reasonable Basis Positions
• Foreign Estate Tax Credits
• IRC Sections 6161 and 6166
• Interrelated Calculations and Traps for the Unwary
• Income tax consequences;
• Potential Penalties and How to Avoid
• How to avoid malpractice traps;
• Overlooked GST issues.

Trust terminology can unfortunately be very confusing. A 100-page document is often named using the terms of a single-clause. However, practitioners must navigate this strange practice if they are to effectively advise their clients. In this presentation, I will cover 30 of the most popular types of trusts and explain in what situations they are generally effective for clients.

1.          Revocable Living Trust (RLT)
2.          Irrevocable Trusts
3.          Simple Trusts; Complex Trusts
4.          Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT)
5.          Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT)
6.          Charitable Lead Trust (CLT)
7.          Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT)
8.          Stand-Alone IRA Beneficiary Trust
9.          Special Needs Trust (SNT)
10.      Minor Trust
11.      Spendthrift Trust
12.      Blind Trust
13.      Discretionary v. Non-Discretionary Trust
14.      Medicaid Trust
15.      Crummey Trust
16.      2642(c) Trust
17.      Bypass Trust (B-Trust or Credit Shelter Trust)
18.      Qualified Terminal Interest Property Trust (QTIP Trust or marital trust)
19.      Dynasty Trust (GST Exempt Trust)
20.      Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT)
21.      Grantor Retained Unitrust (GRUT)
22.      Grantor Retained Income Trust (GRIT)
23.      Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT)
24.      Qualifying Domestic Trust (QDOT)
25.      Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT)
26.      Incomplete Gift Non-grantor Trust (ING)
27.      Domestic Asset Protection Trust
28.      Foreign Trust
29.      Electing Small Business Trust (ESBT)
30.      Qualified Subchapter S Trust (QSST)

ear-end planning in 2024 is as important as ever. Looming changes to the tax code and market volatility provide excellent low-or-no-risk opportunities to reduce your clients’ tax burden. Start planning now to
ensure you have the time to meet with clients, review their situation for ideas, and demonstrate your value. This class will provide, ideas, tips, and tools to act on before year-end to minimize your client’s tax
liabilities – including:

• Brief overview of potential rate changes
• Bracket management considering historically low rates, the scheduled sunset, and the potential
• changes
• Gain harvesting to capture a rate advantage and potential increase in the LTCG tax
•  The mathematics of loss harvesting
•  Advanced Roth conversions including sunset strategies
•  Back door Roth conversions
•  Rethinking itemized deductions and charitable contributions
•  SALT planning
•  Funding tax-preference accounts, including retirement plans and 529 accounts
•  Section 199A deduction proposed changes and planning
•  Converting interest income to capital gain income
•  Utilizing large loss carryforwards
•  How do charitable lead annuity trusts work: both grantor and non-grantor
•  How to use a CRT to smooth out income and diversity concentrated positions
•  How to use oil and gas to offset substantial income
•  AMT issues with oil and gas
•  How to use defined benefit pension plans
•  Roth conversions and the five-year rule
•  The $1,000 Roth conversion strategy for both plans and IRAs
•  Tax-aware investing and long-tern benefit
•  Maximize defined contribution plan savings
•  Non-deductible IRAs
•  Section 529 plans
•  Opportunity zones
•  Borrowing from life insurance
•  Accelerating small business tax deductions
•  Year-end estate and gift planning

Join Bob Keebler as he reviews all of the issues you need to be on top of, including:

Clients depend on you to solve portability issues and find curative solutions when portability was not properly addressed at first death.

In this practical and fast-paced seminar, Robert S. Keebler CPA/PFS, MST, AEP will address the distinct methods of obtaining portability including curative returns pursuant to Revenue Procedure 2022-32 and curative corrections pursuant to obtaining IRC §9100-3 relief.

Since portability became law in 2011, Bob has helped over 100 families with portability issues including curative returns and over 50 curative corrections via the private letter ruling process. In this class Bob will address the practical aspects of filing “abridged” estate tax returns at the first death when property is passing to a surviving spouse. He will also address filing for portability when a bypass trust is partially funded.

This class will specifically cover the following issues:

• Four Distinct Paths to Portability including Rev. Proc. 2022-32 and 9100-3 Late Election Relief
• Understanding the Five-Year Rule under Rev. Proc 2022-32
• Knowing when and when not to file for portability including second marriages
• Understanding the relief provided in Rev Proc 2022-32 and why this procedure is helpful
• Understand who cannot use the 2022-32 procedure or 9100-3 relief
• Understanding Seven Strategies at the first death

1.   100% to Spouse

2.   100% to Bypass Trust

3.   100% to Bypass Trust with formula contingent general power of appointment

4.   100% to QTIP Trust

5.   100% to Clayton QTIP Trust

6.   100% to Spouse followed by a large gift

7.   Combined Approach

In this brand-new class Bob will provide an overview of the fundamentals of the U.S. transfer tax system, including the gift tax, estate tax, and the generation-skipping transfer tax. This class is ideal for the young lawyer, CPA or financial expert new to trust and estate practice and even experienced practitioners transitioning from other areas.

While fundamentally a review of the statutes that govern this area of work, Bob’s 30 years of experience will provide many hard-hitting examples which will crystallise each point.

In this class Bob will cover:

• Gift Tax
  • Basics
  • Statutory Overview
  • Income Tax Basis
  • Annual Exclusion
  • Crummey Gifts / Crummey Trusts
  • Exclusions
  • Martial Deduction
  • Gift Splitting
  • Filing Requirements
  • Adequate Disclosure
  • Defined Value Clauses – Wandry
• Generation Skipping Transfer (GST) Tax
  • Basics
  • Skip vs. Non-skip Person
  • Direct vs. Indirect Skips
  • Taxable Distributions & Terminations
  • Inclusion Ratio Caclulations
  • Allocations
• Estate Tax
  • Basics
  • Statutory Overview
  • State Law
  • Elections & Allocations
  • Filing Requirements
  • Portability Election & the Mathematics
  • Administrative Expense Deductions
  • Martial Deduction
  • Calculations – Including Interrelated (circular) Calculations
  • Credits
  • Protecting the Executor

Year-end planning in 2024 is as important as ever. Looming changes to the tax code and market volatility provide excellent low-or-no-risk opportunities to reduce your clients’ tax burden. Start planning now to
ensure you have the time to meet with clients, review their situation for ideas, and demonstrate your value. This class will provide, ideas, tips, and tools to act on before year-end to minimize your client’s tax
liabilities – including:

• Brief overview of potential rate changes
• Bracket management considering historically low rates, the scheduled sunset, and the potential
• changes
• Gain harvesting to capture a rate advantage and potential increase in the LTCG tax
•  The mathematics of loss harvesting
•  Advanced Roth conversions including sunset strategies
•  Back door Roth conversions
•  Rethinking itemized deductions and charitable contributions
•  SALT planning
•  Funding tax-preference accounts, including retirement plans and 529 accounts
•  Section 199A deduction proposed changes and planning
•  Converting interest income to capital gain income
•  Utilizing large loss carryforwards
•  How do charitable lead annuity trusts work: both grantor and non-grantor
•  How to use a CRT to smooth out income and diversity concentrated positions
•  How to use oil and gas to offset substantial income
•  AMT issues with oil and gas
•  How to use defined benefit pension plans
•  Roth conversions and the five-year rule
•  The $1,000 Roth conversion strategy for both plans and IRAs
•  Tax-aware investing and long-tern benefit
•  Maximize defined contribution plan savings
•  Non-deductible IRAs
•  Section 529 plans
•  Opportunity zones
•  Borrowing from life insurance
•  Accelerating small business tax deductions
•  Year-end estate and gift planning

Basis is trickier than it might appear. Many believe they understand the concept, however once mired in a specific case questions emerge. The current estate planning environment requires planners to understand the income tax, especially basis, better than the estate tax. This course will cover the following topics:

• Basis of property acquired by gift
• Basis of property subject to gift tax
• Basis of property acquired by gift immediately before death
• Basis of property acquired from a decedent
• Distribution standards & basis
• Basis of purchases & reinvestments made by a executor
• Basis of property subject to a power of appointment
• Basis of property sold to an intentionally defective grantor trust before death
• Basis of property sold to an intentionally defective grantor trust after death
• Basis of property transferred back to the donor after the death of the recipient
• Basis of nonqualified annuities, IRAs, and other items of IRD
• Basis in community and separate property states
• Basis of property held by an incomplete gift non-grantor trust
• Basis and grantor trust substitution powers
• Basis of property sold using a private annuity

There have been changes in estate, tax, income, and retirement planning laws coming for a while now and it is more imperative than ever for estate planners to stay on top of these changes. Includes: Monthly bulletin sent via e-mail (approximately the third week of the month). Subscribe for $49 per month.

Most estate planning professionals are already very well aware that the SECURE Act brought with it some of the biggest changes to IRA planning for clients than we have seen during our lifetime. That’s why it’s so important as estate planners that we have what we need to understand the SECURE Act and what you need to know to properly advise your clients.

This is why we, as we have in the past, have teamed up with nationally renowned CPA and IRA expert, Robert S. Keebler, to break it down for you so that you don’t have to do it yourself. Subscribe to the Printable EBook. (Includes: Downloadable, printable PDF e-Book. Pages 108.)