Changes in the law that may affect you

Our attorney, Shannon, attended the WealthCounsel Symposium last week in Los Angeles.  WealthCounsel’s Symposium is the largest Estate Planning conference, which brings together hundreds of attorneys to discuss important updates to laws and best practices. 

Here are a few notable changes that may affect you:

- Sweeping changes for Medi-Cal Recipients. As of 2017, placing your assets in a fully funded trust will protect those assets from Medi-Cal recovery claims.  These protections did not exist in the past, meaning a Medi-Cal recipient’s assets (whether in a revocable trust) could be subject to estate claims.  

- The federal Estate Tax exemption is projected to increase to $5.6 million per person or $11.2 million per married couple (from $5.49 million/$10.98 million).  This means that fewer people will be subject to estate tax.  However, Estate Planning for income tax planning purposes will still be the critical issue facing all Americans.

- The Gift Tax Exclusion is expected to increase to $15,000 in 2018.  It is currently $14,000, unchanged since 2013.

- There are proposed changes to the Federal Tax Code.  If they become law, we will cover these in a subsequent post.

-The Deficit Reduction Act still has not been adopted in California.