Estate and Business Planning Legal Blog

Clients often think it a waste of time and money to retain an attorney to represent them in connection with leasing space, whether it be space in an office, a warehouse, or an entire building. More often than not, however, an attorney can obtain important concessions for the tenant, many of them monetary in nature.  For example, real estate tax escalation clauses and annual rent increases can prove onerous and can often be negotiated, thus saving the client money.

It is also extremely important for a client to understand fully the implications of some important, yet typical clauses which are contained in a commercial lease.  For example, if the landlord will not permit an assignment or sublet of the space, it is extremely important to know that, in the event there is a business downturn and one needs to cut costs.

As everyone is probably aware, part of the tax reform proposal before Congress is the repeal of the federal estate tax.  Clearly, it is not known if the estate tax repeal will in fact happen, but if it does, it will occur gradually.  What does one do in the interim?

Clients should not postpone their estate planning or even undo any estate planning they have already undertaken, on the assumption that the estate tax repeal will occur.  For one thing, if one passes away before the tax is repealed, assuming it is, then one's heirs may wind up paying a very sizable estate tax, which might have been avoided with proper planning.

Moreover, most states have their own estate or inheritance tax, sometimes referred to as a death tax.

Clients often overlook their IRA accounts when doing estate planning, as they are aware that these accounts generally have beneficiaries and do not pass under their wills.  The reality, however, is that they are and should be a very integral part of developing an estate plan.

For one thing, the value of IRAs are indeed included in one's taxable estate and their inclusion may result in an estate tax liability at death.  Since IRAs can not be liquidated without adverse tax consequences, they are generally not the preferred method of paying estate tax obligations .

It is imperative that clients check the beneficiary designations on their IRAs.

Making lifetime gifts to charitable organizations, including many educational institutions that are registered as charitable organizations, offers many tax advantages.  Generally speaking, making these gifts permits one to take a deduction on one's income tax return.  Additionally, lifetime gifting removes assets from one's taxable estate.

In addition to making lifetime gifts, one can make provision in one's will or trust to leave money to charitable organizations, thus avoiding estate tax on those monies.  Often, if  a client has a taxable estate, it makes sense to leave some money to a charity instead of paying taxes to the federal and/or state government.

Clients are often confused about the differences between irrevocable trusts and revocable living trusts, and the consequences they each have for medicaid planning.  Those who advocate living trusts commonly lead people to believe that these trusts will protect one’s assets in the event long-term health care is needed. While living trusts serve the purpose of avoiding probate, they do not protect your assets. Since you still maintain control over the assets in your revocable trust, they are still considered available to pay for your health care needs.  The only way to protect assets from long-term health care costs and creditors is to transfer assets to family members or to an irrevocable medicaid trust.
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It is certainly an exhilarating and rewarding experience to witness the expansion of your company!  The growth may involve the hiring of additional personnel, the acquisition of computer and telecommunications equipment, the obtaining of additional customers or suppliers, and/or the addition of new product lines or services.  Being prepared for the possible legal issues which may emerge as a result of your business expansion will ensure that the experience is indeed a rewarding one.

If your company is doing business with customers or suppliers outside of New York State, the terms of the contracts which you utilize in conjunction with your dealings with them become ever so important.  For example, as a general rule, your contracts should not only be clear and unambiguous so that disputes can be avoided, but they should specifically contain provisions which state that New York law governs and the parties consent to the jurisdiction of the New York courts.  Inclusion of such language may deter the commencement of legal action by your customers or suppliers.
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A Qualified Terminable Interest Property ("QTIP") Trust is a common estate planning tool in second marriages.  Essentially, a QTIP trust ensures that a person's assets will go to their children (or other next of kin) rather than to their new spouse, while providing an income stream to the new spouse.  The Trustee of the QTIP can also have some discretion to distribute principal to the new spouse, if necessary.  One of the problems the QTIP seeks to remedy is in the case of where one person dies, leaving all or most of their assets to their spouse, assuming that spouse will then leave the assets to the first person's children. Not too infrequently, the new spouse may not have a close relationship with his or her stepchildren and, so, changes his/her will to eliminate them.
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While there are very sophisticated estate planning techniques used to reduce one's taxable estate, while the client is living, there are also some simple, inexpensive ways to do so.  Yes, attorneys can establish all types of trusts for clients, in order to shelter assets from estate taxes, and those trusts are certainly useful, but things don't have to be that complicated.  Here are just a few easy ways to accomplish your goals.

1.  Annual Gifting:  Each person can give the sum of $14,000 per individual each year, without having to report the gift on a gift tax return, and without it reducing the donor's unified credit for estate taxes.