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Month: May 2015

A Primer on Gift and Estate Tax

An Oregon resident must worry about federal gift tax, federal estate tax, and Oregon estate tax. Federal estate tax is assessed at 40% of a person's taxable estate over $5.34 (2014 number-adjusts for inflation). So if an Oregon resident has a $10 million taxable...

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Gift Tax Versus Estate Tax

This is a follow-up entry to the entry titled "A Primer on Gift and Estate Tax in Oregon." Even though the gift tax rate and estate tax rate are the same and have the same exemption amounts, money can be saved by gifting instead of letting the assets pass...

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What is an ILIT?

In simple terms, an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) is a irrevocable trust that holds a life insurance policy, generally on the grantor's life. The policy can be either term or permanent. Generally, the grantor will make cash gifts to the ILIT, and the trustee...

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What is a Grantor Trust?

Every trust has a grantor. So why are some trusts called "grantor trusts" and others called "non-grantor trusts"? The phrase "grantor trust" is actually referring to an IRS term that means the grantor of the trust is treated as the owner of trust property for income...

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What is a Digital Estate?

As technology advances rapidly, people's digital assets become more and more important. Paying bills and taxes, storing important documents as well as media files, communicating with friends and loved ones are some of the things that people do online. Contact...

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Spousal Lifetime Access Trust

The Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT) is an irrevocable trust that holds a life insurance policy on the grantor's life. The SLAT has two tiers of beneficiaries. The initial beneficiary is the grantor's spouse; the secondary beneficiary is the grantor's child[ren]...

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Gun Trusts in Oregon

A Gun Trust is a trust specifically established to purchase, own, and convey firearms at the grantor's death. Gun Trusts are usually established to purchase "Title II firearms", which include, but are not limited to machine guns, short-barreled rifles, and silencers....

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