As I previously blogged back in April , President Trump signed into law the first significant reform of the US Tax Code since Ronald Reagan. Today, I would like to further explore the additional implications this law will have on your finances. Clearly, the new tax act will affect how we make decisions on our estate, buying a home, health insurance, setting up a business, and even porce agreements. But what about family wealth transfer precisely? Planning for family wealth transfer is an important step in assuring assets are passed down to your loved ones with the least amount of tax consequences. While the new law did not repeal the estate tax as originally expected, it temporarily doubled the estate tax exemption for single filers to $11.2 million from $5.6 million, indexed for inflation. For a married couple, this means a $22.4 million exemption for the next eight years. Keep in...

This week we've invited Gerardo Rodriguez, VP and Investment Officer at Coral Gables Trust Company to challenge us with the question: Do you know your Trustee well? What to think about when selecting a Trustee? Estate Planning can be a daunting task. You have to find an attorney that can help you organize yourself and your assets that will create your Estate when you pass and leave your bequest to your heirs. You have to draft a will, select a Health Care Surrogate, and create a Trust to place your assets in to avoid Probate.  One of the biggest questions is who would you select as the Trustee of your Trust. A Trustee is, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, simply a natural or legal person to whom property is legally committed to be administered for the benefit of a beneficiary (such as a person or a charitable organization), or one (such as...

I'm John Harris, Managing Director at Coral Gables Trust Company and welcome to our What You Need to Know blog! On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law the first significant reform of the U.S. Tax Code since Ronald Reagan was in office. Here is Part 1 of how it will affect your finances. The new   tax act will affect how you make decisions on estate planning, buying a home, or setting up a business. In this first blog, I will highlight major parts of the law to keep in mind, starting with individual income taxes.  Now that the new tax act is coming into effect, your personal tax rates and income brackets will be lowered, yet they will also expire (or sunset) at the end of 2025. What does this mean? Specifically, this means that the top rate will fall from 39.6% to 37%, the 35% bracket will...