In a recent case out of the Court of Appeals for the State of Mississippi, the Court held that a writing titled an “Article of Agreement” (the “Agreement”) was sufficient to convey an interest in real estate to the decedent’s sisters.[1] The primary issue to be decided by the Court was whether the Agreement executed…
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The Mississippi Vulnerable Persons Act of 1986 (“MVPA”) was passed by the Mississippi Legislature in 1986 to provide protection for vulnerable persons in Mississippi who are abused, neglected, or exploited.[1] In addition to providing the penalties associated with abusing, neglecting, and exploiting a vulnerable individual, the MVPA requires that individuals report instances of known or…
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In a recent decision, the Tax Court addressed the complexities of gift tax and qualified terminable interest property (“QTIP”) rules, providing important insights for estate planning professionals and taxpayers alike.[1] The case centered on the interpretation of provisions related to the taxation of transfers between spouses, and in this context, termination of QTIP interests and…
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In a recent article, my colleague Gray Edmondson covered the recent Supreme Court case, Loper Bright[1], and the demise of the Chevron Doctrine.[2] The Loper Bright case was handed down by the Supreme Court on June 28, 2024. As Gray explains in his article, the Chevron case has to do with determining the validity of…
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As tax planning practitioners, we do not typically see issues we deal with daily become the subject of cases before the United States Supreme Court. This term, we had the Connelly[1] case involving estate tax valuation of a decedent’s stock in a corporation funding a redemption buy-sell with corporate-owned insurance. Shortly thereafter, the Supreme Court…
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If you started a business organized as a C corporation, you may be able to avoid some, and possibly all, tax liability when you sell the stock of the C corporation. As previously written upon by Gray Edmondson,[1] Section 1202 of the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) provides for the exclusion of gain on Qualified Small…
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I discussed the basics of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) pension benefits program (collectively “VA Pension Benefits”) in a prior article.[1] In that article, I alluded to additional benefits available to those that meet the requirements for Aid and Attendance or Housebound. If you have not read that article yet, I strongly encourage…
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Under IRC §121, gain on the sale of a principal residence of up to $250,000 (or $500,000 for spouses, see below) may be excluded from gross income. This may seem pretty straightforward, and many times it is, but it also has numerous requirements in order to apply, as well as numerous exceptions that may apply.…
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In a previous writing, I discussed the potential of an executor to be personally liable for a decedent’s tax obligations.[1] That discussion was based on lessons learned from a Tax Court opinion,[2] outlining certain steps for executors to consider in minimizing exposure to such personal liability. In 2023, in a split decision, the Ninth Circuit…
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On February 8, 2024, the Mississippi Supreme Court issued its opinion[1] regarding an issue of first impression regarding Mississippi’s Principal and Income Act of 2013 (the “Act”).[2] As a worthwhile note, the Court noted that this is an issue of first impression and acknowledged as well as appeared to oblige the parties so as to…
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