Last week I summarized the 2018 rates and exemptions for gift, estates and trusts. Compared to the major tax code reforms to personal and business taxation, the estate tax changes appear relatively straightforward.
The estate tax was not repealed, but the unified Federal gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions more than doubled overnight from $5.49 million in 2017 to $11.2 million in 2018. That doubled exemption will remain inflation-indexed and in force until the doubling “sunsets” in 2026, at which time the exemption will revert to $5 million inflation-indexed from 2011. But simple changes often have important implications.
Here…
Continue Reading Estate Tax Reform: Top 5 Takeaways

I previously provided summaries of estate and gift taxes for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Unlike the minor changes of the prior few years, 2018 brings major federal tax law changes via the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” signed late 2017, which includes significant changes to Federal estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes.
Here is an executive summary of the Federal and Illinois estate, gift and generation skipping tax exemptions and rates for 2018:
Federal Estate Tax

• 2018 Exemption Equivalent: $11,200,000* (up from $5,490,000 in 2017)
• Annual Inflation Indexing: Yes* (rounded annually to

…
Continue Reading 2018 Estate Tax Summary

If you haven’t already heard, Bob Glorch is retiring from the practice of law next week, at the end of 2017.  Bob retires after a 50-year distinguished legal career focused on estate planning.
I had the great fortune of being hired by Bob as a law clerk in 1998 while attending DePaul Law, and two years later, I became Bob’s associate. At the end of 2014, Bob sold the practice to me, while staying on as “Of Counsel” to complete the transition. Bob has now completed his tour of duty and has more than earned his free time to cycle,…
Continue Reading Wishing Bob Glorch a Happy Retirement!

In an unexpected move, the IRS announced in Rev. Proc. 2017-34 (June 9, 2017) that estates who failed to file an optional estate tax return (Form 706) to elect “portability” of a deceased spouse’s unused exemption (DSUE) now have until at least January 2, 2018 to file. This relief extends all the way back to estates of individuals who died in 2011 or after, and left a surviving spouse.
To learn about the basics of portability and why it can be so valuable, read about why I called it “the tax election every surviving spouse must consider” in…
Continue Reading Big News! IRS Extends Portability Election Deadline For Estates Since 2011

This is the third and final post in a series about new Illinois probate and estate laws taking effect in late 2016 or the beginning of 2017.  Read Part 1 and Part 2.
In all, last year the Illinois legislature passed 192 new laws.
To download a summary of all of them in an excel chart, click here.
This week I will provide short summaries of seven additional new Illinois laws that relate to real property, guardianship, disability and death.
1. Transfers of Property into Trust. Public Act 099-0743 (eff. 1/1/17) requires all transfers of real property into…
Continue Reading New Illinois Laws for 2017, Part 3: Real Property, Disability & More

This is the second in a series of posts about new Illinois probate and estate laws taking effect in late 2016 or the beginning of 2017.
One of the primary tasks of an executor or successor trustee is to ascertain and marshal the decedent’s assets. As an attorney who regularly advises and assists executors and trustees, one of the items that is always on my checklist is “unclaimed property.”
What is unclaimed property? It’s property that has been turned over to the State after it has been abandoned and not claimed by the true owner. This could be a utility…
Continue Reading New Illinois Laws for 2017, Part 2: Unclaimed and Abandoned Property

This post will be the first in a series of posts about new Illinois probate and estate laws taking effect in late 2016 or the beginning of 2017.
I have been writing about the emerging issues surrounding estate planning for digital assets for several years (read all of my posts here). After years of debate and revisions, states began introducing and passing legislation in 2016 based upon the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) passed by the Uniform Law Commission.  At last count, at least 25 states have enacted legislation based closely on the RUFADAA approach.
Continue Reading New Illinois Laws for 2017, Part 1: Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets