Portability, Prenups and Post-Atra Planning
Cost: Members $25, Students $30 (must show a valid student ID), Guests $35
About the talk: The estate tax concept of “portability” first appeared on the scene in 2010, and became a “permanent” feature of the tax laws (if there is such a thing) on January 1, 2013, in the “American Tax Relief Act of 2012”. Basically, “portability” means that for a married couple, if one spouse dies without having used up all of his or her estate tax exemption amount, the unused exemption amount from that decedent remains available for use by the surviving spouse, to be applied in his or her estate, or used for his or her lifetime taxable gifts. But things are never that simple, are they? How is portability invoked; what are the filing requirements? Who makes any decisions required? How does portability affect estate planning—what changes should estate planners be considering to get the most benefit from portability? Is this an issue just for estates over the exemption amount, or does it impact even “smaller” estates? How does portability affect income taxes or even the generation-skipping transfer tax? What happens if the surviving spouse remarries? What do we do for spouses with “traditional” estate planning (perhaps done prior to 2010?) now?
Even more fun arises for planners dealing with that “second [or subsequent] marriage.” How does portability affect what we do for clients who are entering into a state of matrimony for a second (or third, etc.) time? If we are doing a premarital agreement, what issues must we address, in light of the changes in the estate and gift tax laws regarding the use of a spouse’s “unused” exemption?
The increased estate tax exemption, and the institution of “portability” of exemptions has dramatically changed things for estate planners. This program will explore questions raised by those changes.
Speaker bio: Edward F. Reilly is a Member of Muhm & Reilly, LLC. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Illinois in 1975, a J.D. degree from Washington University in Saint Louis in 1978, and an LL.M. degree (Taxation) from Washington University in Saint Louis in 1986. Mr. Reilly is an Adjunct Professor in the LL.M. program at Washington University School of Law, a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and is an Articles Editor for The Tax Lawyer. He is admitted to practice in Missouri, Illinois, and U.S. Tax Court and is a member of the Missouri Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (Probate and Trust Law Steering Committee). He has served as Chairman of the Gift Development Committee for Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, and has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the Trusts and Estates practice category since 2005.
