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IRS Gift and Estate Tax Limits for 2025

October 8, 2025 Posted In Estate Planning,Estate Taxes,Firm News

As we enter 2025, several key updates have been made to federal estate and gift tax limits, presenting valuable opportunities for individuals and families to optimize their estate planning strategies. Here’s a breakdown of the most significant updates: Estate and gift tax exemptions for individuals are set at $13.99 million. Estate and gift tax exemptions…

Estate Planning Tools for Your Baby’s College

November 21, 2017 Posted In Estate Planning,Estate Taxes,Guardianships & Conservatorships,Powers of Attorney,Trusts

Remember when your baby was just an infant and you thought he/or she would break like dropped china or porcelain? And then you saw them run right into a glass door and bounce off like a rubber ball and bounce back for more. It was probably back then that you first gave some forethought into…

Trusts & Taxes: FAQs about Tax Obligations for Trusts & Trustees

July 15, 2016 Posted In Estate Taxes,Trust Administration,Trusts

Trusts & Taxes: FAQs Taxation for trusts can be complicated, as there are special rules in place for filing and paying for trust-related taxes (as opposed to personal or business taxes). Understanding the obligations and requirements for the taxes related to trusts is important to properly managing and administering trusts and to avoiding future complications,…

How to Choose an Executor or Personal Representative for an Estate?

January 24, 2016 Posted In Estate Planning,Estate Taxes

How to Choose an Executor or Personal Representative for an Estate? A central part of estate planning can be selecting the right executor and/or personal representative to carry out your wishes in the future. While you may have some ideas of who to appoint to these positions, below are some specific tips to keep in…

How Does Portability Affect Estate Taxes?

December 5, 2015 Posted In Estate Planning,Estate Taxes

A Denver estate planning lawyer discusses how portability for federal estate taxes can help reduce tax obligations. Since 2011 in the U.S., married couples have been able to take advantage of portability for federal estate tax purposes, allowing them to share certain unused exemptions and save on their overall estate tax obligations. Although portability is…

Setting up a Living Trust: Six Facts to Know (Pt. 3)

October 25, 2014 Posted In Estate Planning,Estate Taxes,Trust Administration,Trusts

Concluding our blog series Setting up a Living Trust: 6 Facts to Know, below we will point out some final important facts to be aware of if you are considering setting up a living trust. Setting Up a Living Trust: Some Final Facts to Consider… Fact 5 – While there are a number of advantages…

Estate Planning Concern Over Tax Penalties Eased by Portability

January 31, 2014 Posted In Estate Planning,Estate Taxes,Probate, Estate, & Trust Administration,Trusts,Wills

Many families in Colorado may not fall into the mega-rich category of the 1 percent. However, it is not just the ultra-wealthy who have estate planning tools at their disposal to protect their assets. In fact, wealth-protection professionals taking part in the 2014 Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando focused on portability becoming a…

Certain Documents Should Accompany Every Estate Plan

September 13, 2013 Posted In Asset Protection,Estate Planning,Estate Taxes,Medical Directives,Powers of Attorney,Trusts,Wills

Planning for one’s death is never pleasant; however, as many Colorado residents may already know, it is often a fact of life. This is especially true when there are numerous assets that must be given away as part of one’s estate. An authority on the subject in a recent piece provided some guidance on which…

Estate Planning Is A Basic NEED For Everyone

June 28, 2013 Posted In Asset Protection,Estate Planning,Estate Taxes,Trusts,Wills

Some Colorado residents may have common misconceptions about what an estate is in legal terms and whether estate planning is necessary. Most people have estates, whether they know it or not: Even a child who inherited his or her grandmother’s heirloom ring or who has a savings account has an estate. If people own something…

New Tax Rules Modify Effective Estate Planning

June 14, 2013 Posted In Estate Planning,Estate Taxes,Firm News

The changes to the United States tax laws in 2012 have ramifications on estate plans. Colorado residents should consider the consequences that the tax laws will have on their individual estate planning. The goal of estate planning is to preserve assets, and the tax implications of the new laws create estate planning concerns. The 2012…

A Good Estate Plan Can Provide a Family With a Legal Safety Net

May 4, 2013 Posted In Estate Planning,Estate Taxes,Wills

By drafting a common document, namely an estate plan, families in Colorado can prevent major headaches when a loved one dies. A recent New York Times article discusses the fact that most families fall well below the financial threshold for paying an estate tax. Even for families that may not be considered wealthy, the article…

Sequestration Could Potentially Impact Estate Planning Strategies

March 21, 2013 Posted In Estate Planning,Estate Taxes,Firm News

Although Congress recently made a very favorable estate and gift tax exemption “permanent,” it is hard to say with certainty what changes will come into effect for residents of Colorado and other states as a result of the recent government sequestration. Under sequestration, there is a possibility that many of the following estate planning techniques…