Recently , the IRS published proposed regulations concerning the valuation of certain interests transferred to family members for tax purposes.

The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, enabling the creation of tax-advantaged savings accounts for individuals with qualifying disabilities, was enacted in law on December 9, 2014. It amends Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Individuals with disabilities and their families often receive public benefits for income, health care, food and housing […]

With the Supreme Court’s strike down of the Defense of Marriage Act in United States v. Windsor, it is now left to individual states to decide whether same-sex couples can be legally married. Although same sex couples living in states which recognize such unions as “marriages” will generally gain access to benefits available to recognized […]

For many individuals, their retirement accounts (generally 401(k)s or IRAs) are their biggest assets and they plan to name their close family members as beneficiaries of such accounts. However, naming a special needs person outright as a primary or contingent beneficiary of a retirement account benefit may lead to unintended results. Often individuals with special […]

A recent ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court clarifies one aspect of transfers of natural gas rights in the Marcellus shale region. The landmark decision in Butler v. Charles Powers Estate,____ A.3rd  ___, 2013, WL 1749828 (Pa., April 24, 2013), has upheld and reaffirmed Pennsylvania’s long-held property law, referred to as the Dunham Rule, which […]