Entries by Rick Sorrell

2016 Estate Tax and the Presidential Candidates

One of the frequent topics around these parts involves the estate tax. There is nothing new here: taxes on the transfers of wealth date back to ancient Egypt. Pyramids don’t come cheap. And Caesar Augustus taxed transfers on death, though he made an exception for transfers between certain close family members. These taxes can have […]

Family Members, Loans, and the IRS

We frequently run into situations where someone wants to loan money to a family member (or has already done it). Often, the idea of charging interest is distasteful to them. This is—after all—family. It probably will not surprise you to find out that the IRS has ideas about this, and that they are happy to […]

The Added Advantage of an IRA Protection Trust

Naming a trust as the designated beneficiary of a your IRA has several very important advantages over directly naming the beneficiaries. First, your chosen beneficiary may be a minor, not prudent with money, have marital or creditor issues, or may be disabled. Second, if the beneficiary dies before distribution, the contingent beneficiaries may not be […]