Estate Planning

Retirement accounts can be an integral part of wealth accumulation and estate planning. In this blog series, we consider the issues in Australian superannuation (retirement) accounts. Many Australians live in the US on E-3, O-1, and EB-2 visas, or as U.S. green card holders, or citizens. These U.S.-based Australians, have likely, accumulated retirement benefits in […]

A QTIP trust, despite its silly name, is a valuable estate planning tool. QTIP, or “Qualified Terminable Interest Property” is a name derived from the tax law that legalises the tax benefits of the trust. When property is given to a spouse outright (not subject to a trust), it qualifies for what is known as […]

When considering a large charitable gift, individual donors have many options at their disposal. Charitable trusts, donor‑advised funds, and private family foundations are three commonly used charitable giving options. Below is a summary of each option, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each. Donor advised funds – A donor‑advised fund at a local […]

Wills serve several functions, and nearly every adult should have one. If any of the below criteria apply to you, you should have a will: If you have minor children, and you want a say as to who will care for them upon passing, you need a will. A Will enables you to nominate a […]

Leanne Broyles, Esq.,Senior Associate Resident estates and trusts are subject to Virginia state income tax on nearly all of their federal taxable income1. Effective July 1, 2019, recently enacted House Bill 2526 (HB2526) modifies the definition of a resident estate or trust for Virginia state income tax purposes2. HB2526 significantly impacts the tax treatment of […]

Leanne Fryer Broyles Part II In Part I of this post we reviewed the importance of discussing planned giving with your financial advisors. This month’s post focuses on just one way to give. The Charitable Remainder Trust is a popular planned giving tool that offers many benefits for philanthropists. If you are a good candidate, […]

Leanne Fryer Broyles, Esq. Most people are familiar with the concept of a “spendthrift”- a person who is recklessly wasteful with his or her spending. While the spendthrift trust bears the name of the type of person for whom it was designed, its modern purpose is much broader. Anyone leaving substantial means to their beneficiaries […]

In the first part of this post, we began discussing a powerful hammer in the IRS’s enforcement toolkit for payroll taxes. This hammer is the trust fund recovery penalty (TFRP). Last week, we discussed what it is and how the IRS can use it to go after individuals who willfully fail to collect or pay […]

Uncle Sam is very serious about collecting income and employment taxes that are supposed to be withheld by businesses. To be sure, the IRS is serious about collecting other taxes too. But with employment taxes, the agency has an additional and potentially powerful tool: the trust fund recovery penalty (TFRP). In this two-part post, we […]