2014 was mostly a year of stability for estate planning, but did include some significant developments. The current exclusion amounts for estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax is at a historical high at $5.34 million currently and expected to be $5.43 million for 2015. Portability for gift and estate tax exclusions by a surviving spouse has been a focus of estate planning considerations this year, as well as heightened attention to income tax as a result of increased income tax rates. One significant development in 2014 that garnered much attention was the US Supreme Court decision in Clark v. Remeker, which held inherited IRAs do not fall under bankruptcy protection.
See David M. Allen, Mal L. Barasch, Victor H. Bezman & Diane B. Burks, 2014 Year-End Estate Planning Advisory, The National Law Review, Nov. 28, 2014.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.
