Upcoming Events

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.

In her first major policy speech, Vice President Harris announced a plan to lower housing costs that will be funded by using Senator Warren’s American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2024. The revenue raisers in Warren’s Mobility Act represent a radial reconfiguration of the transfer tax system, and should the Democrats hit the “Trifecta” in the falls election, there may not be time to prepare clients for the best decisions in actions both now and in 2025. Whether you’re an attorney, financial advisor, CPA or other estate planning professional, it’s critical that you know how these proposals will radically change the planning techniques that you’ve traditionally implemented for clients.

Join Jonathan Blattmachr, Martin Shenkman and Bob Keebler as they review how this radical proposal could spell the death of wealth as we’ve come to know it.  The following is an executive summary of the changes in the bill our expert team will review:

Jonathan/Marty/Bob will then review the following tax strategies clients and their advisors should be thinking about implementing right now:

•   Funding Annual Exclusion Gifts now
•   Implementing Gifts and Sales to protect discounts now
•   Funding SLATs now
•   Funding charitable gifts, CRTs, CLATs

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

In his exclusive LISI Webinar, Bob Keebler will cover:

Overview of Key Considerations

• Income, Estate and Gift Taxes
• Generation Skipping Transfer Taxes
• Income §691(c) Deduction and Its Failures
• State Estate Taxes
• State Income Taxes

Overview of SECURE

• 10-Year Rule
• Exception Beneficiaries

Roth Conversions

• The SECURE Act’s ten-year payout rule and the high tax rates to follow
• What the Lawyer needs to know about the strategic aspects of conversions and Estate Planning Benefits
• 2021 Roth Update with Higher Income and Estate Rates
• Critical Roth conversion concepts after SECURE
• Roth conversions for rate arbitrage compared to traditional IRAs to trusts
• 10+ Reasons to convert to a Roth IRA
• Estate tax considerations
• Why a Roth conversion is much better when an estate tax exists
• “Stretch” Roth IRAs for eligible designated beneficiaries
• Roths for SNTs and asset protection trusts
• Using insurance to preserve post-death “stretch-out”
• Why a conversion is a “Bet-to-Live” Strategy and why insurance is a “Bet-to-Die” Strategy
• Easy to read charts, graphs and tables

Charitable Remainder Trust Strategies

• How IRA-CRTs can simulate the longer payout and still benefit charity
• Understand the Mathematics of the IRA-CRT with and without an estate tax
• Understanding the income tax aspects of CRTs
• Converting ordinary income to long-term capital gains
• Designing IRA CRTs for spouses with a 100% marital and charitable estate tax deduction
• Designing IRA CRTs for children and grandchildren including GST issues
• The reasons why the IRA-CRT is a better decision now more than ever and why insurance planning compliments CRT planning
• Running the numbers to compare strategies and why the CRT really works for charitably inclined clients
• Why the 691(c) deduction fails to truly benefit the beneficiaries

Insurance Strategies

• Powerhouse Life Insurance Strategies
• Understand the Income and Estate Tax-Free Benefits of IRA relocation (i.e., utilizing IRA distributions to Purchase Life Insurance)
• Learn Advanced Insurance Strategies Including Policy Designs to Maximize ROI
• Debt financed life insurance strategies

State IRA Income Tax Strategy Trusts

• Which “home” states allow this strategy
• How the SCOTUS opinion in Kaestner may impact this strategy
• How the Minnesota Supreme Court opinion in Fielding impacts this strategy
• How DNI transfers income from a trust to beneficiaries equally
• The throwback rules of California and New York
• Tax treatment of capital gains after IRA withdrawals from both regular and Roth IRAs

Multi-generational Accumulation Trust Sprinkling

• The operation of the DNI Rules of Subchapter J which allow you to shift income
• The 65-Day Rule
• Why 10 years is really 11 tax years
• State law fiduciary accounting income issues
• State income tax issues
• The math of sprinkle trust strategies
• When charities can (in some cases, should?) be added and why

In her first major policy speech, Vice President Harris announced a plan to lower housing costs that will be funded by using Senator Warren’s American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2024. The revenue raisers in Warren’s Mobility Act represent a radial reconfiguration of the transfer tax system, and should the Democrats hit the “Trifecta” in the falls election, there may not be time to prepare clients for the best decisions in actions both now and in 2025. Whether you’re an attorney, financial advisor, CPA or other estate planning professional, it’s critical that you know how these proposals will radically change the planning techniques that you’ve traditionally implemented for clients.

Join Jonathan Blattmachr, Martin Shenkman and Bob Keebler as they review how this radical proposal could spell the death of wealth as we’ve come to know it.  The following is an executive summary of the changes in the bill our expert team will review:

Jonathan/Marty/Bob will then review the following tax strategies clients and their advisors should be thinking about implementing right now:

•   Funding Annual Exclusion Gifts now
•   Implementing Gifts and Sales to protect discounts now
•   Funding SLATs now
•   Funding charitable gifts, CRTs, CLATs

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.

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

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) filing deadline for the CTA is end of year 2024 and there is limited time to address filings. The New Jersey bar issued an opinion letter stating that while CPAs and Enrolled Agents can assist clients with CTA filings that if the filing issues are “complex” assisting clients without legal guidance will constitute the unauthorized practice of law. What does this mean to CPAs and the risks and liability they may face helping clients? What relevance might a NJ opinion have to CPAs in other jurisdictions? FINCEN recently issued FAQs addressing trusts. These FAQs raise new issues  and complications  for practitioners trying to apply the general CTA guidance owned by trusts. When might a trust company or owners of the trust company have to file? What might this mean to the trusts and Reporting Companies owned by trusts? FinCEN recently issued a new FAQ that suggests that some entities dissolved before 2024 may still have to file. How is that possible and what does that mean? This recent FAQ contradicts a prior FAQ that lead many practitioners to believe that entities that are dissolved in 2024 before filing would not have to file. That is no longer the case. So dissolving for practitioners to advise their clients. And all of this is in addition to the ongoing challenges to the CTA that is still being litigated in various cases. This webinar will provide informal discussion of these and perhaps other CTA issues that practitioners need to understand in deterring how to handle what may be a wave of clients coming in as the end of 2024 draws closer.

In Smaldino v. Comr., T.C. Memo. 2021-127 (November 10, 2021), the Tax Court recharacterized a gift purportedly made by the petitioner’s wife to a dynasty trust for the benefit of the petitioner’s children and grandchildren (who were not the spouse’s descendants) as having been indirectly made by the petitioner to the dynasty trust, which resulted in a much higher gift tax liability. This case is rich with lessons for how spousal gifts should be-and should not be-done, and it presents an opportunity to review the risks of indirect gifts.

In their exclusive LISI webinar, long-time LISI teammates Bob Keebler and Paul Hood analyze and break down the lessons from the Smaldino decision, and along the way, Bob and Paul will cover the following items:

• Complete coverage and analysis of Smaldino v. Comr., T.C. Memo 2021-127.
• We’ll discuss the all-important organization and history of the gift tax, because it’s impossible to understand the wide scope of the gift tax without doing so. The gift tax is very different from the estate tax, even though the two are unified.
• Magnitude of proper and consistent documentation of spousal and subsequent transfers for both common law and community property states.
• Critical importance of consistency in reporting between the gift and income taxes.
•  Review of critical differences between the gift and the estate tax, including the important historical and statutory differences between the two transfer taxes.

Don’t miss this important webinar!

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

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

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

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.)