In 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) published final regulations, to be effective December 1, 2025, requiring financial reporting for non-financed residential real estate transactions. “Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers,” 84 F.R. 70258 (9/29/2024), adopting 31...
In the article on the increase in the federal estate tax exclusion amount under the “megabill” enacted as P.L. 119-21 (see “Federal Estate Tax Exclusion Increased to $15 Million“), it was reported that a number of income tax provisions that...
I’ve seen and heard many questions from lawyers over the years who are representing personal representatives (i.e., executors or administrators) of an estate and who are not certain about what to do do when there has been no notice of...
Generally speaking, an individual retirement account (IRA) is subject to inheritance tax if the owner of the account was age 59-1/2 or older at death, and an employer-sponsored pension, profit-sharing, or other form of retirement plan is taxable if the...
The word “situs,” from the Latin for “position” or “location,” is often used in connection with three different issues: which state’s courts have jurisdiction over the administration of the trust, which state’s laws govern the interpretation or administration of the...
The Pa. Department of Revenue has issued a Realty Transfer Tax Bulletin explaining the exemption for real property distributed from an estate, and the bulletin provides some helpful guidance on a few issues. Realty Transfer Tax Bulletin 2024-01, “Transfers from...
S.B. 1231 has been passed by both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature and was signed by the governor on July 15, 2024, becoming Act 64 of 2024, P.L. ___, to be effective in 90 days. The bill adopted changes to...
There are several court opinions holding that the assets held in a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) account are subject to federal estate tax upon the death of the donor when the donor is serving as the custodian for...
Pa.R.O.C.P. 4.1(c) (and similar rules in most other courts) states that the text of all petitions and other “legal paper” filed with the Orphans’ Court must be “double spaced.” Based on a recent motion filed in a federal court and … Continue reading
The recent decision of the Supreme Court In re: Estate of William K. McAleer, 248 A.3d 416, ___ Pa. ____ (4/7/2021), is being widely discussed in the context of the extent to which the opinions and time records of the...