Insights on Private Clients, Trusts & Estates

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) will dramatically change the tax treatment of income from many partnerships, limited liability companies, and S corporations.

Often grandparents or other family members or friends would like to make additional gifts but have already bumped up against their annual gift tax limits.

The year 2015 provided another bumper crop of decisions in trusts and estates disputes. While the courts generally experienced a nationwide decrease in the filing of civil lawsuits, trust and estate disputes continued to fill court dockets and a few noteworthy trends emerged.

Arent Fox Complex Litigation partner Barbara S. Wahl recently published an article in Law360 that outlines key publicity rights issues that attorneys and their clients should consider when doing estate planning.

In a recent case, a Virginia trial court has joined other states in opening the door to lawsuits by disappointed beneficiaries who can demonstrate that the testator’s lawyer’s malpractice caused the beneficiary to receive a smaller bequest than intended by the testator.

All good wealth management includes estate planning as a component. Changes in the tax laws, modern trust conventions and family changes make periodic reviews of estate plans a real necessity.