The recent Mississippi Supreme Court case, In re Estate of Effie Mae Autry (2023-CA-01300-SCT), provides an important reminder of the pitfalls associated with undue influence in estate planning. This case illustrates how family dynamics and diminished mental capacity can complicate the execution of Wills and related estate documents, including lifetime gifts. Background Decedent, Effie Mae…
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Often, the value of assets can determine tax consequences. This applies in a number of areas including charitable donations, asset allocation on sale transactions, income tax on liquidation of a corporation, gift tax, and estate tax. Because the value of assets determines the amount of tax payable in these and other situations, it is critically…
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Clients often ask about the protections that their children and/or other beneficiaries of their estate plan possess, particularly when discussing their fiduciary appointments and the safeguards in place to ensure such fiduciary fulfills their duties to the beneficiaries. While the specific discussion and citations in this article are limited to rights of beneficiaries in Mississippi,…
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Charitable organizations play a vital role in fostering social well-being and addressing critical issues. These entities operate with the primary goal of serving public interests, whether through alleviating poverty, advancing education, supporting healthcare, protecting the environment, or any countless other means. In Mississippi, one of the most common methods for creating a charitable organization is…
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Anyone paying attention knows that stock markets have been volatile. As a simple example, the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw an increase of over 600 points (1.56%) on April 11 after dropping over 1,000 points (2.5%) on April 10. Similarly, the S&P 500 gained 9.5% on April 9, but dropped 3.5% on April 10. Generally,…
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A recent Tax Court decision underscores an increasingly rigorous examination of Section 831(b) microcaptive insurance arrangements.[1] This ruling may be insightful to taxpayers considering or currently operating microcaptives, has broad implications for businesses seeking legitimate tax incentives created by Congress. Overview of the Case The case at hand involves the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS”) rejection…
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With the filing deadline for individuals to file their income tax returns approaching and people becoming more acutely aware of how much in taxes they will pay for the last year, now, perhaps more than other times of the year, I receive comments from people about “starting an LLC to reduce taxes,” or “having expenses…
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We have previously written about the requirements to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) for foreign bank accounts held by US taxpayers pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act.[1] In a recent case out of the United States District Court for the District of Idaho, the Court ruled that a decedent’s widow…
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Starting in 2002, and every year since, the IRS has published its list of the top tax scams that taxpayers should be aware of, known as the Dirty Dozen. Parker Durham and I have discussed the IRS’s Dirty Dozen list in prior years.[1] Recently, the IRS released its Dirty Dozen list for 2025.[2] While last…
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Common in estate and trust planning is the gift or sale of assets to an irrevocable grantor trust[1] structured to be outside of the grantor’s taxable estate.[2] Often, such gifts or sales are made of interests in family entities such as LLC’s.[3] These entities can provide significant non-tax benefits including consolidation of assets, centralized management,…
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