In Palmwood Holdings, LLC v. Comm’r, the United States Tax Court granted partial summary judgment in favor of the IRS, holding that the Service satisfied the supervisory approval requirement of section 6751(b) with respect to a civil fraud penalty first asserted in the IRS’ answer. The decision reinforces a growing body of Tax Court precedent…
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Use of irrevocable trusts is common in a number of planning scenarios – tax planning, estate planning, business succession, Medicaid qualification, asset protection, etc. Just like there are several reasons irrevocable trusts are created, there can be reasons why a trust may be terminated before the expiration of the term stated in the trust agreement.[1]…
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Estate disputes often rest on a fragile balance between testamentary intent and certain legal safeguards that protect vulnerable testators from improper third-party influence[1]. A recent decision[2] by the Mississippi Court of Appeals highlights this delicate balance and provides commentary on Mississippi’s treatment of undue influence, the role of witness credibility, and the evidentiary burdens faced…
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On September 18, 2025, the Mississippi Supreme Court issued its opinion in In re Estate of Herbert Bernard Ivison, Jr. (No. 2024-CA-00421-SCT), affirming the Scott County Chancery Court’s decision to deny Malouf & Malouf, PLLC’s attempt to recover past-due compound interest on unpaid legal fees.[1] The ruling in the instant case provides helpful guidance on…
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“Asset protection is a legitimate, legally sanctioned objective; though one that has limitations of its own.” The timing of asset protection planning can be critical when it comes to these “limitations.” By the time a creditor is reasonably foreseeable, the creditor may be able to stop or unwind transfers of assets whether through obtaining an…
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Estate planning requires the careful balancing of family priorities with tax and asset protection concerns, and the tools available to practitioners to address these priorities and concerns change over time amid legislative reforms and judicial determinations. Among the tools available to practitioners, the inter vivos Qualified Terminable Interest Property trust, aka the inter vivos “QTIP”…
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In a recent case out of the Tax Court, a surviving spouse’s Estate was denied the portability of the Deceased Spouse’s Unused Exclusion (“DSUE”) from the decedent’s spouse who had passed away two years before the survivor.[1] The Estate Tax Return (“706”) for the decedent’s spouse, while filed, was not “complete and properly prepared” and…
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In a recent case issued from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, the Court held that a Trustee’s reliance on the advice of a CPA that no trust income tax return was due was enough to establish reasonable cause for such failure and thus avoid late payment and filing penalties.[1]…
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Often, the value of assets can determine tax consequences. This applies in a number of areas including charitable donations, asset allocation on sale transactions, income tax on liquidation of a corporation, gift tax, and estate tax. Because the value of assets determines the amount of tax payable in these and other situations, it is critically…
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Clients often ask about the protections that their children and/or other beneficiaries of their estate plan possess, particularly when discussing their fiduciary appointments and the safeguards in place to ensure such fiduciary fulfills their duties to the beneficiaries. While the specific discussion and citations in this article are limited to rights of beneficiaries in Mississippi,…
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