• QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Seize the Opportunity

    Strategic Gifting Before 2026 The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 presented an opportunity by significantly raising lifetime gift and estate tax exclusions, but this window is closing soon. With the exclusions set to expire at the end of 2025, there is an urgency to plan your gifts sooner than later. Imagine it is December 2025, and you have a chance to gift $14 million to your children without incurring a single dollar in federal gift tax. Fast forward just one day to January 1, 2026, and that same gift could trigger a whopping $2.8 million in taxes. This…

  • QuickRead Top Story - Tax

    A Primer on Establishing Trusts and its Taxation

    Grantor Trust—Living Trusts to Irrevocable Trusts and their Taxation This article provides the general rules which are applicable for many and sometimes almost every situation, but with taxes and legal issues there are very few absolutes and almost everything has exceptions. That is why competent and experienced advisors must be used in every situation. This article provides an overview of the different types of trusts, their purposes, and taxation of the same. Trusts are an effective mechanism to provide for transfers of assets, protect assets from eventual or potential creditors, enable assets to be used in situations where the person…