IRS Releases 2024 Inflation-Adjusted Numbers             A silver lining to our current high inflation environment is the IRS’s just-released inflation-adjusted numbers for 2024.  Below are some notable highlights affecting various provisions in the Internal Revenue Code applicable for the 2024 tax year: The lifetime gift and estate tax exclusion amounts…

Transfer tax planning focuses on gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) taxes, which are collectively referred to as “transfer taxes.”  The base transfer tax exemption amount is $10,000,000 ($12,920,000 million for 2023, as indexed for inflation).  Under current law, the base transfer tax exemption amount is set to reduce to…

  A common question that arises when preparing federal gift tax returns is whether a gift in trust qualifies not only for the gift tax annual exclusion but also for the lesser know (and lesser understood) generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) tax annual exclusion.  This article will clarify when gifts in trust…

In Florida, probate is a court-supervised procedure for administering a deceased person’s estate. This procedure includes identifying and collecting the decedent’s assets, paying the decedent’s debts and funeral expenses, and distributing the decedent’s assets to his or her beneficiaries.  The court generally must appoint a “Personal Representative” to manage the…

Chapter 222 of the Florida Statutes contains the statutory exemptions that protect certain assets from attachment or garnishment under Florida law.  Historically, the statutory exemptions have been liberally construed in favor of protecting the debtor against creditor claims to exempt assets.  A recent, albeit unpublished decision from the United States…