Brown McCarroll Attorneys at Law

Most wills in Texas are “self-proved,” making them easier to admit to probate following the testator’s death.  Up until September 1, 2011, this required the testator and both witnesses to sign the will twice.  Last year, the legislature simplified the process.

First, Happy Valentine’s Day!  Second, the rest of this post has absolutely nothing to do with Valentine’s Day.

Yesterday, the IRS announced certain extension and penalty relief provisions applicable to the estates of persons dying in 2010 and the beneficiaries of those estates.

As readers of my legislative update are aware, our Texas Probate Code is not a real “Code.”  It was first enacted in 1955, effective January 1, 1956, before Texas had adopted any organized system of statutory codification.  It’s slated for replacement with the new Estates Code in just over two years.

Somewhat to our surprise, at the end of the First Called Session (more commonly known as the special session), the legislature added some guardianship provisions from H.B. 2900 (that failed to pass in the Regular Session) to S.B. 1, the “fiscal matters” bill that was the primary reason for the special session in the first place.

Sunday, June 19^th, was Governor Perry’s deadline for signing or vetoing bills that were sent to him during the waning days of the 2011 Texas Legislative Session.  In the past, he has typically waited until that day to take action on the majority of bills awaiting action.  However, this year he probably wanted to enjoy his Father’s Day, since he acted on all of the bills on Friday, June 17^th.

The 2011 Texas Legislative Session  -- at least the Regular Session – is now history.  We’ve posted a revised version of our legislative update that describes all of the legislation that passed relating to probate, guardianships, trusts, powers of attorney, and other areas of interest to estate planning and probate practitioners.  You can download the legislative update here.

Earlier this year, we presented a TexasBarCLE webcast with Al Golden.  The paper we prepared for that webcast, entitled The Two-Year “Solution” – An Introduction to the Solutions Provided and Issues Raised by the Estate, Gift, and GST Tax Provisions of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, used the earlier translation as a starting point.  It has subsequently been used by a number of other presenters at many other seminars.  So, due to the “popularity” of The Two-Year “Solution”, we’re providing you a copy here.

It’s been a while since our last post.  The 2011 Texas Legislative Session is in full swing, and I am the chair of the Legislative Committee – Probate of the Real Estate, Probate, and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.  We’ve previously linked to a preview of the session here.  That “preview” is now an “update” of the legislation currently filed relating to probate, guardianships, trusts, powers of attorney, and other areas of interest to estate planning and probate practitioners.  You can download the latest version here.

A week ago, we let you know that President Obama and the GOP leadership had reached a compromise on the extension of the Bush tax cuts, and that proposed language implementing that compromise had been released.  You can reread that post here.

Since then, on Tuesday, December 14^th, the Senate passed the legislation.  On Thursday, December 16^th, the House passed the legislation – without amendment, but not after some significant legislative arm-twisting.  On Friday, December 17^th, President Obama signed the bill into law (using 11 pens – one for each letter in his name).

Ever since the 2001 tax act passed, with its built-in increase of the tax-free amount to $3.5 million by 2009, and repeal of the estate tax in 2010, only to be followed by reinstatement of a $1 million tax-free amount in 2011, we knew that surely, Congress would fix this confusing mess long before we got to 2009.  All I can say, is “Please don’t call me Shirley!”  (Apologies to the late Leslie Nielsen.)

First, a warning.  This may get a bit complicated.  Don’t try this at home!  We’re going to begin with the tax benefits of large lifetime gifts, and then discuss the additional benefits that appear to be available for large gifts during the remainder of 2010.

A brief diversion from our continuing discussion of the current state of the estate tax (begun here).  As many of you know, I am the co-chair of the Legislative Committee – Probate of the Real Estate, Probate, and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.  In that capacity, I have prepared a preview of legislation in the 2011 session affecting probate, guardianships, trusts, powers of attorney, and other areas of interest to estate planning and probate practitioners.  You can download a copy here.

Let’s continue our discussion of the current state of the estate tax (begun here) with a discussion of basis.  Not a particularly exciting subject, at least not until you end up paying capital gains taxes you didn’t realize you’d owe.

We began our blog with a  look back at the current state of the estate tax, with a promise to discuss pending estate tax proposals, planning opportunities – and pitfalls, and more, in future installments.  Today, we take a brief side trip inspired by the recent death of George Steinbrenner, the principal owner of the New York Yankees baseball club.

Welcome to the first installment of our new blog – Estate of the Union!  In this space we will periodically cover a variety of topics related in some way to estate planning and probate issues.  These will relate to wills, trusts, guardianships, disability documents (such as financial and medical powers of attorneys and advance directives, or “living wills”), transfer taxes (such as the dreaded “death tax), business succession planning, and more.  Later this year, we anticipate entries focusing on anticipated Texas legislative developments related to these matters.  But first, we’d like to introduce you to the topic that’s at the …