The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently proposed new Treasury Regulations, which are likely to go into effect near the first of 2017, severely limiting estate planning techniques used by wealthy individuals to lower their estate and gift taxes. The proposed changes apply to nearly all family-controlled and closely-held entities including those operating businesses. Florida Bar Wills, Trusts & Estates Board Certified Attorneys Craig R. Hersch and Michael B. Hill will host a webinar on the subject at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15. Free and open to the public, registration for the webinar is available at www.sbshlaw.com/webinars/. Only the first 100 signees will be able to view the webinar.
Individuals who have estates valued at, or likely to achieve, $5.5 million or married couples with assets exceeding $10 million may find great value in the webinar, as the proposed regulation would alter a family’s ability to take advantage of valuation discounts when calculating federal gift taxes when making intra-family transfers of closely held shareholder, LLC, and family-limited partnership interests. The proposed regulations are pending a 90-day comment period, followed by a public hearing before they are finalized.
“This gives those in the higher wealth brackets, especially those with closely held entities or family businesses a short window of opportunity to make inter-generational transfers along with revisions to their estate plans before the rules go into effect,” said Hersch.
Hersch is a Florida Bar Board Certified Wills, Trusts & Estates attorney and holds his Florida CPA license. Hersch is a partner at Sheppard, Brett, Stewart, Hersch, Kinsey & Hill, P.A. and has created several trademarked processes tied to his estate planning and administration practice, including The Family Estate & Legacy Program™ and The Estate Settlement Program™. He recently published his third book, The Florida Residency & Estate Planning Guide. His other books include Common Cents Estate Planning and Legal Matters When a Loved One Dies, and he is working on additional books anticipated for publication in 2016-2017. His work has appeared in several professional journals, including The Practical Tax Lawyer, Trusts & Estates Magazine, and The Florida Bar Journal. Hersch also writes a weekly estate planning column that is published in Sanibel’s Island Sun newspaper and on his firm’s blog at www.sbshlaw.com/blog.
Hersch is a multiple graduate of the University of Florida with accounting and law degrees and has provided his expertise as a continuing education lecturer for The Florida Bar and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Hersch holds an AV Martindale-Hubbell rating, the highest attainable by the independent national attorney rating service, has been selected as a Worth 100 Top Attorney and has been named to the 2015 Super Lawyers list.
Hill is also a Florida Bar Board Certified Wills, Trusts & Estates attorney and holds accounting degrees from the University of Florida.
Originally founded in 1924, Sheppard, Brett, Stewart, Hersch, Kinsey & Hill, P.A. provides personalized advice and legal services on matters ranging from estate planning, probate and trust administration, asset protection strategies, real estate law and transactions, and business, corporation and banking law.
The attorneys at Sheppard, Brett, Stewart, Hersch, Kinsey & Hill, P.A. have and will continue to take an active role in the Southwest Florida community, serving on various business boards and charitable foundations. For more information, visit www.sbshlaw.com or call 239-334-1141.
