FLORIDA ESTATE PLANNING AND PROBATE LAW BLOG: September 2019

DEDUCTIBILITY OF FUTURE ALIMONY PAYMENTS

♠ Posted by Marc J. Soss in alimony tax deduction,deduct alimony,divorced spouse,modified divorce agreement,Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017

Prior to the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 ("ACT"), a divorced spouse could deduct any alimony payments made to his former spouse. The former spouse had to claim the alimony received as income. The ACT eliminated this tax deduction effective January 1, 2019. The implementation of this change remained unclear for agreements executed prior to December 31, 2018, but modified after that date. On July 22, 2019, the IRS issued an article clarifying the treatment of payments pursuant to a modified agreement. The article explained that "the new law applied to a modified agreement if the modified agreement 1) changed the terms of the alimony or separate maintenance payments and 2) stated that the alimony or separate payments are not deductible by the payer spouse or includable in the income of the receiving spouse." As a result, modified agreements that do not change or modify the terms of the payments and require them to be non-deductible remain subject to the old law.

FLORIDA RANKED 46TH IN 2019 LAWSUIT CLIMATE SURVEY

♠ Posted by Marc J. Soss in Florida Lawsuit Climate,Florida litigation haven,florida trial lawyers,greedy florida lawyers

Florida’s lawsuit climate ranked 46th out of 50 in a new national survey released on September 18, 2019, by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR). The city of Miami ranked among the ten worst jurisdictions in the nation. The 2019 Lawsuit Climate Survey was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. The poor perception of Florida’s legal climate is critical because 89 percent of survey participants—an all-time high—said a state’s lawsuit environment is likely to impact their company’s decisions about where to locate or do business. The survey comes at the same time the Florida legislature has made strides toward improving the lawsuit climate. Last April, the Florida legislature passed legal reform bills aimed at curbing rampant insurance fraud. In May, the state Supreme Court finally adopted a rule to keep junk science out of Florida courtrooms—already law in 40 other states and in federal courts.

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATION TO PREVENT EXPOLOITATION OF THE ELDERLY

♠ Posted by Marc J. Soss in abusive caregivers,Assembly Bill 328,california elder abuse,florida elder abuse

Exploitation of the elderly is a serious problem in our country. Many incidents involve caregivers that take advantage of the vulnerability of the individuals they are caring for. The California Legislature has closed loopholes in its Probate Code that allows abusive caregivers to marry their way into a dependent adult’s wealth. Assembly Bill 328, signed by California Governor Newsom on June 26, 2019, and effective on January 1, 2020, creates a presumption of undue influence that applies in two scenarios. California law previously presumed that a dependent adult who signs an instrument benefiting a “care custodian” (i.e., a caregiver who provides health or social services to a dependent adult) does so as a result of fraud or undue influence such that the instrument is presumptively invalid. However, the law exempted spouses, domestic partners, and cohabitants who receive gifts from dependent adults. The exclusion permitted an opportunistic care custodian to marry a dependent adult so as to avoid the presumption of invalidity. Assembly Bill 328 amends section 21611 of the California Statutes so that care custodians who marry dependent adults cannot make “omitted spouse” claims if the dependent adult dies less than six months after the marriage occurred. Legislation of this nature is needed in all US states and territories. Talk to your state representatives to promote it.

North Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kimberly Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust

♠ Posted by Marc J. Soss in income tax,North Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kimberly Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust,north carolina tax trust,supreme court,taxation of trust

On June 21, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the case of North Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kimberly Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust. The Court, in a unanimous decision, found that the State of North Carolina may not tax trust income that (i) has not been distributed to the beneficiaries, for which the beneficiaries lack the right to demand the income, and (ii) for which the receipt of that income is uncertain simply because those beneficiaries reside in the state. North Carolina taxed the Kaestner trust based on N.C.G.S. §105-160.2, which provides that the state can tax any trust “that is for the benefit of a resident of this State” regardless of whether the beneficiary actually receives distributions from the trust, has the right to demand income from the trust in a given year or could ever count on receiving income from the trust.The Supreme Court found that state residency of a beneficiary alone is not enough for North Carolina’s statute to satisfy the first criteria of the Court’s Due Process analysis and that the North Carolina statute, as applied, violated the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. When creating a Trust it is important to consider the fact that several states, including Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming, have no state-level taxation of trusts. Others, including the District of Columbia, tax trustees of what they classify as “resident” trusts.

ARE YOUR ESTATE PLANNING DOCUMENTS SAFE?

♠ Posted by Marc J. Soss in estate planning documents,protect estate planning documents,Sarasota estate planning,sarasota estate planning lawyer

Many clients wonder whether it is best to leave their original estate planning documents with the attorney that drafted them or in their homes. The recent weather events and climate change, including hurricanes and tornadoes, has led to discussions on where would they best be protected? In many instances, people escape from their homes with only the clothes on their back, or even if they do have a bit of time to gather items to take, they may not think about their estate planning documents. In addition to paper copies, it is a good idea to preserve your estate planning documents electronically and store them either in a secure cloud back-up or a physical back-up to your computer housed in a different location. You should always create an electronic PDF copy of your documents as a further safeguard.