Readers, as I conclude my third year as editor-in-chief of the Journal, I also conclude my tenure serving in this role. It has been an honor to serve as your editor-in-chief and I look forward to remaining involved in our Section and working with our members for many years to come. I am delighted to announce … Continued

It’s been a wonderful year and the days just flew by. We are headed into the holiday season, and in a short while we will be at the Annual Meeting of the New York State Bar Association at the New York Hilton. The first live Annual Meeting in three years. And it will be a great one. … Continued

Introduction A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT) is an irrevocable trust that allows an individual to protect his or her assets from Medicaid. Once the MAPT is established, assets are transferred into the trust, which contains specific language to allow the trust to be considered an exempt asset for Medicaid purposes once the applicable lookback … Continued

As leaves fall, and hints of the chill winds of winter abound, we present for your consideration some interesting cases involving: the authority of the Surrogate’s Court to construe a will in a probate proceeding; the jurisdiction of the Surrogate’s Court to ascertain whether there was misconduct by the decedent’s attorney-in-fact; a determination of domicile … Continued

The Issue I recently encountered an interesting situation in which someone suggested that a grantor trust be decanted into a non-grantor trust before the end of the taxable year. The reason? To avoid the special interest charge that would otherwise be imposed with respect to the deferred tax liability attributable to the trust’s share of … Continued

As most of you should know by this time, the New York State estate tax regime—by its design—contains a trap for the unwary. Further, consideration of the arithmetic has revealed what would be catastrophic results for an estate where credit shelter trust or disclaimer provisions are not drafted with requisite care. New York State imposes … Continued

This volume is chock full o’ tax! In these pages, Kevin Matz addresses the Internal Revenue Service’s proposed regulations on estate administration expenses and claims; Paul S. Forster and Vincent J. Lackner, Jr. issue a warning about the New York State Estate Tax “Sinkhole” (f/n/a Cliff); and Christina Lamm provides a helpful overview of the … Continued

Proposed Changes to IRC § 2053 Would Introduce Present Value Concepts for Estate Tax Deductions, Limit “Graegin Loans,” Complicate Deductions Where Illiquidity Results From Estate Planning, and Limit the Deductibility of Guarantee Obligations in the Absence of Entity Control On June 28, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service published proposed regulations under Internal Revenue Code § 2053 … Continued

In May 2022, the Florida Legislature made important changes to Florida’s trusts statutes, which became effective on July 1, 2022. Some of the noteworthy changes are discussed below. Practitioners should consider revising their trust forms accordingly. Rule Against Perpetuities For trusts created on or after July 1, 2022, the rule against perpetuities is now 1,000 … Continued

Attorney-in-Fact Before the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, in In re Maika, was an appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Onondaga County, which denied the motion of the respondents for summary judgment dismissing the petition and granted the petition setting aside a deed conveying real property to the respondents. The underlying proceeding was instituted by the … Continued