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NYS Estate Tax Changes: The Good News, and the Bad News

As of April 1st New York state doubled its estate tax exemption – the amount you can leave your heirs without paying state estate tax – and it is set to rise gradually through 2019 to eventually match the federal exemption, projected by then to be $5.9 million.  That will make estate tax planning much easier for many people, but there are still big traps in the new law to watch out for. One such trap in New York is a new “cliff,” so called because if it is triggered you fall into NY’s estate tax abyss. Until April 1, 2014 the amount an individual could leave to their heirs (other than a spouse) without owing NYS estate tax was $1 million.  Your estate would then

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Gov. Cuomo Proposes Changes to NYS Estate Tax

New York is one of only fourteen states that tax estates. That means in addition to the federal estate tax, a New York estate could be paying another 9% – 16% to Albany – a fact that some believe is leading to a migration from New York to other states. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s new budget proposes several major changes to New York’s estate tax. First some background: The federal estate tax applies to people who have an estate of $5.34 million or more, and they typically pay a rate of 40%. So the federal system has a big exemption, but a high tax rate. New York’s system affects many more taxpayers because the personal exemption of $1 million is so much lower, notwithstanding the lower

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Separation and Divorce in the age of social media can be dangerous!

Posting an angry rant on Facebook or Twitter is far more dangerous than standing on your front steps and yelling it.  Internet posts never fully disappear, and any attempt to delete your post could be construed as tampering with evidence, if someone wants to use the post in court. Click here for an interesting article on the subject.

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Important statutory changes in NY divorce law effective January 31, 2014

The Combined Parental Income Cap under the Child Support Standards Act, i.e., the amount of parents’ combined income that will be applied to the formula for calculating child support, has been adjusted from $136,000 to $141,000;  and The Income Cap under the Temporary Maintenance Guidelines has been adjusted from $524,000 to $543,000.

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Five Estate Planning Considerations for New Parents

Most new parents have become experts at planning before a baby is born.  They have created the nursery, planned for childcare and some have even started planning for the unborn child’s education.  All of that is great.  But don’t let your planning stop there – creating an estate plan is another essential you simply cannot overlook. Here are 5 estate planning considerations you need discuss with an attorney when creating your estate plan as new parents: Name a guardian.  While it is extremely difficult to even contemplate your child growing up without you, sometimes it happens.  By naming a guardian in your will, you will have done your best to protect your child should the unthinkable actually happen.  Remember that you can always change your

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