Utah Elder Law Blog

I'm pleased to announce that Platt Law has teamed up with Wealth Counsel, a national organization of Estate Planning attorneys whose primary purpose is to educate and support other estate planning attorneys around the U.S. with respect to the highly technical and complex aspects of estate planning.

Many of us have learned of the consequences of failing to plan from Terry Schaivo, the woman in Florida who was the subject of years of court battles.  Unfortunately, many still have not learned and are in similar circumstances today.  You may have heard of another woman in Florida whose parents are now fighting over who has the right to make end of life decisions for her.  

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal provided an in depth look at the history of the development of the estate tax in the U.S. as it currently stands.  Although the Republican and Democrat supporters of the repeal of the federal estate tax had managed to pass a law phasing out and ultimately repealing the estate tax, their efforts seem to nevertheless be on the rocks today with the incoming Obama administration and decidedly fiscally liberal majority in congress. 

The IRS recently announced that the annual gift tax exclusion amount will increase from $12,000 to $13,000 beginning Jan. 1, 2009.  This means that every individual can give away up to $13,000 per person, per year without having to file a gift tax return. For example, you could make a gift of $13,000 to each of your three children and to each of their spouses for a total of $78,000 per year (or two times that amount for married couples).  There is no limit to how many individuals you may make gifts to.

I often have clients ask me to include some language in a Will or Trust instrument that threatens their kids with disinheritance if any of them start a fight over the Will or Trust. Such language is commonly known as "penalty," "no-contest," or "in terrorem" clauses. I'm always willing to do so as long as my clients understand the probable outcome of any attempt to enforce such a provision.