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In collaboration with a consortium of interested parties, including Holland & Knight attorneys, the Tennessee legislature has made significant strides toward securing and maintaining the state’s status as one of the leading jurisdictions for trust administration.

For a business owner considering the sale of their business, there are two competing goals: maximizing the proceeds from the sale and minimizing the transfer taxes that will be due on the owner’s enhanced estate. With additional insights, Warner Partner Beth O’Laughlin discusses possible ways to accomplish both of these goals through gift and estate tax strategies employed before the owner signs a letter of intent to sell the business.

During this interview, attorney Jason Kohout shares the legal developments and highlights from his panel discussion on the regulatory, trust, tax, and estate planning update at the Family Office and Wealth Advisor Forum. Discover what to watch out for, what to stop worrying about, and what you should consider doing to protect your family office clients.

Irrevocable trusts are a great way to minimize estate taxes and keep more of your wealth in the family, but they require you to permanently give up ownership and control of the assets you place in them. For people who are hesitant about the irrevocable aspect of the trust, there is the spousal lifetime access trusts, or SLAT, that can be an excellent estate-planning tool that allows indirect access to trust assets and income through the beneficiary spouse. Plus utilizing the SLAT’s grantor trust status, can make this type of trust especially palatable.

Rather than viewing trusts as a mechanism to protect beneficiaries from the dangers of wealth, what if trusts were viewed as vehicles to “ignite a fire” within the next generation? Imagine a trust structure that is designed to cultivate a spirit of entrepreneurialism by making beneficiaries active participants rather than passive recipients of their inheritance.

Following the enactment of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) explained that the CTA and FinCEN regulations "would help protect the U.S.

As families and their advisers begin to prepare for U.S. entities in their succession planning structures to comply with the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), consideration should be given to U.S. holding companies and the requirement to report a business street address. This "Supplementary Information" section of the final regulations issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) sheds light on the business street address requirement and comments received by FinCEN.

U.S. tax and information reporting obligations have become an increasing concern for international families and their succession planning structures. Missed or late filings can result in steep penalties, even when no tax is due. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is alerting the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to income and accounts held by U.S. citizens and green card holders (U.S. persons). To help bring delinquent individuals into compliance, the IRS offers streamlined filing compliance programs.

When it comes to effectively transferring assets, the Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRAT) is a popular estate planning strategy that can reduce the tax liability. In this interview, three attorneys discuss the benefits of GRAT and the securities law case, Donoghue v. Smith, involving that strategy.

As new and established tax provisions shape the current tax environment, it’s clear that understanding the landscape of tax law changes and expiring tax credits is key as a high-income taxpayer or business owner preparing for year-end. With this year-end tax guide, you’ll find useful insights, data, and instructive planning information on income and deductions; executive compensation; investing; real estate; business ownership; charitable giving; family and education; retirement; estate planning; and tax rates.