Westchester Office:
1133 Westchester Avenue
Suite N208
White Plains, NY 10604
914.948.1556
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Long Island Office:
135 Pinelawn Road
Suite 245 South
Melville, NY 11747
631.501.9800
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2021 Estate Planning Update and Possible Changes
Under the Biden Administration
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While 2020 was challenging, both from a personal and economic perspective, Congress has begun to take steps to raise revenue in order to pay for the various stimulus packages it funded in 2020 and proposes for 2022. Senators Sanders and Whitehouse have proposed legislation which will increase both federal estate and income taxes. Some highlights are as follows:
- Lower the estate and generation-skipping tax exemption to $3,500,000 per individual ($7,000,000 for a married couple) and the gift tax exemption to $1,000,000 per person ($2,000,000 for a married couple). The current law has an exemption of $11,700,000 per individual.
- Increase the estate and gift tax rates from 40% to 45% for transfers over $3,500,000, 50% for transfers over $10,000,000, 55% for transfers over $50,000,000 and 65% for transfers over $1,000,000,000.
- Eliminate discounts for transfers of interests in family-controlled entities.
While these proposals are quite alarming, this is not new ground. Parts of this bill have been introduced and rejected during the Obama administration. Also, with regards to timing, while no one can read tea leaves as to what will pass and when, it appears that legislation (if passed)would be effective either after the date of enactment or later, such as January 1, 2022. read more
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DOL Releases Guidance on Retirement Plan Missing Participants
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Background
In recent years, the Department of Labor (DOL), which oversees employer retirement plans, has increasingly focused on issues that arise from missing or nonresponsive participants. This includes, for example, former employees who fail to update their contact information, do not elect to timely commence receiving their plan benefits, or fail to cash their benefit checks.
Missing participant issues can arise in the context of both ongoing and terminating plans. These issues may range from one-off administrative headaches, to systemic plan administration issues to major plan termination compliance issues. According to DOL, plan sponsors must not passively sit back and wait for missing participants to one day appear and claim their benefits. Even in the context of an ongoing plan, plan sponsors have a fiduciary duty to actively identify and locate missing participants and ensure that participant communications concerning eligibility to receive benefits are properly distributed to, and understood by, plan participants. Some investment platforms and other third-party service providers can assist plan sponsors in dealing with missing participants. read more
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ESOPs: The Overlooked Potential Buyer of a Closely Held Business
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While most individuals who are interested in designing an estate plan are typically focused on minimizing estate taxes as well as ensuring that assets pass according to their wishes, often with certain controls and stipulations, owners of closely held businesses have their own checklist of additional concerns. These businesses typically comprise a majority of the owner’s taxable estate, which leads to analyses of efficient uses of the gift and estate exemptions and techniques such as GRATs, IDGTs, ESOPs, etc. However, of equal, if not more importance and weight, is a dialogue involving management and control of the business after the death of the parents/owners. read more
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INFORMATION BLOCKING REGULATIONS GO INTO EFFECT
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On April 5, 2021, the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) of the Department of Health and Human Services issued its Final Rule regarding the electronic health information (EHI) blocking and interoperability provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act. As the interoperability provisions are largely within the purview of EHI vendors and technology developers, this article will discuss the information blocking regulations which are applicable to healthcare providers. read more
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In Our Firm:
We want to share with you that our firm has recently received the following honors. We thank our clients and colleagues for their continued loyalty and for helping us achieve these honors.
Best Law Firm:
Danziger & Markhoff LLP has been included in the 2021 U.S. News - Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms" list for the tenth consecutive year. The firm received a Metropolitan Tier 1 ranking in the area of Trusts & Estates Law.
The Best Lawyers in America:
Harris Markhoff, Michael Markhoff and Joshua S. Levine have been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers® in America 2021 . Harris was selected in the areas of Corporate Law and Trusts & Estates, Michael was selected in the area of Trusts & Estates and Josh was selected in the area of Health Care Law.
New York Super Lawyers:
Michael Markhoff and Jay Fenster have been selected for inclusion in 2020 New York Metro Super Lawyers . Michael was selected for Estate Planning and Probate and Jay was selected for Employee Benefits. Each year, only 5% of the attorneys practicing in New York received this honor.
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