Due to current federal and Washington state gift and estate tax laws, along with uncertainty with respect to future changes in these tax rules, this year represents a potential once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many Washington families to reduce their taxable estate and pass on more of their assets to their beneficiaries. If you are a Washington …
Category Archive: Death Taxes
Dec
08
Recent local news articles on Estate Planning and Death Taxes
I would like to share a few local Washington state news articles related to estate planning and death taxes. I have talked about the current estate tax system for both Washington State Estate Taxes as well as the IRS imposed federal Estate Taxes in previous posts, but in summary, the current exemptions are $5 million …
Sep
20
Washington State Estate Taxes
I am often asked about the taxes that could be levied on an estate by the IRS. While the federal estate tax can be significant for those with very large estates, changes to the law at the end of 2010 exempted nearly all estates from such taxes as well as allowing spouses to give their …
Jun
29
Washington Trusts: Credit Shelter Trust
A Credit Shelter Trust is an Estate Planning tool used by married couples specifically for the purpose of reducing estate taxes (or “death taxes”) due upon the death of the second spouse. The Credit Shelter Trust operates much the same way as a Disclaimer Trust by using the federal and state exemption amounts of the …
May
25
Washington State Estate Tax
Washington State levies a tax on the estate of of residents based upon their total “taxable estate”. The current estate tax, or death tax, rates range from 10% to 19% and are given in the table below. The tax is also applied to non-residents based upon the total property located in Washington State.
Apr
13
U.S. Beneficiary of Foreign Estate
What happens when a non-U.S. relative leaves you an inheritance in their will? Will special inheritance taxes be due on the bequest? Are there restrictions on bringing money into the U.S.? I have prepared a quick guide below to helping U.S. citizens and residents deal with the situation when they inherit money from a foreign …
Apr
12
Estate tax basics
With tax season upon us, I thought I would take just a moment to give a very brief overview of the estate and gift tax scheme at the federal and Washington state levels. The amount of any estate tax (or death tax or inheritance tax) due upon your death depends on the size of your …
Apr
06
2011: Estate Planning in Washington Examples
The examples provided below are a follow up to a previous post regarding the current estate tax laws applicable to Washington State residents. The previous post can be found here. I have prepared the following hypotheticals to illustrate the importance of an Estate Plan incorporating specific provisions regarding Washington State taxes.
Apr
05
2011: Estate Planning in Washington State – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good News: Beneficial Changes to Federal Law for 2011 and 2012 After months of negotiations following the lapse of the Federal estate tax for 2010, Congress finally got around to enacting new estate tax rules at the end of last year. On December 17, 2010, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation …