Looking at Estate Planning Through Income Tax Glasses
Please Note: Original speaking date was September 22nd. This meeting date falls on a Jewish Holiday, therefore has been changed in honor of the holiday.
We have come from a recent time when Estate Tax Rates were 55%, and combined Federal and California capital gains rates were 27% where no AMT applied. Moving assets for estate planning purposes to avoid an immediate 55% tax while giving up a basis step-up that would “cost” 27% was a good deal – with a 28% savings to be had! Today, Estate Tax Rates are 40%, and combined Federal and California capital gains rates as much as an effectively 37.1%. The loss of the basis step-up which occurs because of the gift dilutes the benefits of estate planning significantly. Andrew Katzenstein, Esq. will discuss “how the times they are changing.”
Note: This program qualifies for 1-hour of Attorney, CPA, Professional Fiduciary and Trust Officer continuing education credit. This program was approved by the California Department of Insurance, Course Number: 328730. Presentation is pending course approval with the CFP Board of Standards.
Andrew M. Katzenstein is a partner in the Personal Planning Department where he assists high net worth individuals, companies and charitable organizations with all aspects of tax and estate planning. He focuses his practice on tax planning matters, which include estate, gift and generation-skipping tax planning, as well as income tax of trust planning, probate and trust administration matters, resolving disputes between fiduciaries and beneficiaries, and charitable planning.
Chambers USA 2012 ranks Andy among the leading tax attorneys in the country and, based on client interviews, singled him out for his helpfulness and creativity. A client is quoted as saying, "he always contributes added value."
Andy is a much sought-after speaker on estate planning and probate issues and has recently appeared on CBS’ 48 Hours Mystery, NPR, and served as host of KFNX’s weekly radio talk show “Principal of the Matter,” which addressed a variety of trust and estate planning topics. He has published numerous articles in Estate Planning Magazine, the Journal of Taxation and Taxes Magazine, and was one of the principal contributors to the probate treatise "Marshall and Garb on Probate."
A frequent lecturer on a variety of estate planning and tax related topics, appearing annually before the Los Angeles County, Beverly Hills and California State Bar Associations, Andy also has participated in the prestigious USC Tax Institute and the USC Probate and Trust Law Conference, and has lectured in Europe, Canada and across the United States. Andy has taught estate and gift tax law at USC Law School since 2009 and has taught estate tax at UCLA Law School since 1992. He previously taught estate planning and advanced estate planning in the Graduate Tax Program at the University of San Diego and at Golden Gate University.
September Meeting Sponsor
