Drivers behind today's seller's market
It is no secret that the merger & acquisition (“M&A”) market has been vibrant and showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. There are a plethora of statistics and charts that can be produced to demonstrate the health of the M&A market, but an exhaustive quantitative review of transaction activity will be for another day. That said, let’s at least set the table with a couple instructive reference points for context.
Is There Shelter to be Found?
As most are aware, there are significant tax changes on the horizon that will materially impact personal and business planning. In this post, we outline some of the salient build-up and points of emphasis as the Biden Plan continues to be negotiated.
Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT) - A Way to Have Your Cake and Eat It Too!
What is a SLAT?
A SLAT is an estate planning tool available to a married couple that allows a spouse the ability to remove assets from their combined estates by making a sizeable irrevocable gift to a trust today for the benefit of the other spouse, children, and/or future generations. If properly structured, the gift will not be subject to estate tax in either spouse's estate (using the donor spouse's Unified Credit) but will still allow the couple to maintain access (limited) to both income and principal during the lifetime of the donee spouse.
The present Coronavirus crisis has undoubtedly wreaked havoc on all our lives, impacting both our personal and professional worlds. The disruption has cascaded through pretty much all areas of the financial world leaving very few businesses escaping unscathed. Uncertainty has always been the enemy of financial stability and unfortunately, foundational questions about how long the recovery will take and what the future will look like post-crisis do not have clear answers. Understandably, this is a cause of worry and concern for many.
