Wealth and Law

Brent chats with T.J. Ryan about how to choose a trustee in a blended family. They discuss the challenges of those types of families, potential conflict points, and offer ideas to resolve issues before they begin. T.J. Ryan is a trust and probate litigation and estate planning attorney at Frazer Ryan Goldberg & Arnold LLP. T.J. is a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Trust and Estat...

Brent chats about estate tax (and some income tax) risks to foreigners owning real estate in the United States. He explains the strange rules about direct ownership, surprising results at death, and some options to avoid estate tax issues. It is common for foreigners to purchase real estate in the United States. Once they do, they contend with a host of special tax rules, from FIRPTA, to withholdi...

Brent chats with Penny Phillips about how she is building the modern registered investment advisory firm, what it takes to prioritize clients, and how advisors can connect with clients. They also rib lawyers and laugh about common excuses to stay off social media. Penny Phillips has spent most of her career coaching and consulting financial advisors, business owners and wealth management instituti...

Brent rewinds one of our most popular episodes with Kyle Larson and Lily Styrmoe of TCI Wealth Advisors. They go over their top tips for how younger individuals and families can begin building the generational wealth that they’ve dreamed of. Kyle Larson is a a CFP, Financial Advisor, and Shareholder at TCI Wealth Advisors. Kyle graduated from the University of Arizona before attending medical scho...

Brent chats with Deborah Plum about techniques to maximize wealth transfers in a low market, low interest environment. They talk about GRATs, sales to IDGTs, intrafamily loans, and CLATs. They also speculate about market volatility and other things. Deborah is an attorney at Rimon, P.C. Deborah is an experienced trusts and estates associate with a background in corporate tax.  Deborah has extensiv...

Brent discusses the proposed regulations under the SECURE Act. He explains the rules relating to trusts as IRA beneficiaries, how they change existing rules, and what they mean for trust planning.

Brent chats with Amy K. Kanyuk about trust decanting. They get into the benefits and risks of decanting, how they happen, and how the rules change from State-to-State. Amy K. Kanyuk is a Partner at McDonald & Kanyuk PLLC in Concord, NH. She concentrates her practice on estate, gift and generation-skipping planning for individuals and families of high net worth, as well as estate and trust admi...

Brent and Joel Revill chat about crypto currencies and trust administrations. They dig into the regulatory environment, how crypto currencies perform in a traditional portfolio, and where DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) may change the future of businesses and trusts. Joel is the CEO and co-founder of Two Ocean Trust. Prior to co-founding Two Ocean Trust, Joel spent 15 years in invest...

Brent chats with Evan Unzelman about rolling over income interests in charitable remainder trusts. They talk about why these transactions can be tax beneficial and create flexibility for the right CRTs. Evan is the President of Sterling Foundation Management. Evan began with Sterling’s Family Office Concierge Services in 2004, where he provided comprehensive solutions to the unique challenges face...

Brent chats with Doug Nelson about what has happened in the markets during the first few months of 2022, how to find the right advisors for young investors, and educating youth about starting and persisting in personal finance. Doug is an advisor and shareholder at TCI Wealth Advisors. Doug has received numerous national recognitions based upon his belief that investment success involves integrati...

Brent discusses the limits of Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs). He talks about existing statutory and case law limitations on their use and the IRS view in CCA 202152018 that potentially creates additional risk for practitioners. He also offers practical solutions to plan for these limitations.

Brent talks with Gary Fletcher about Arizona’s SALT deduction workaround, how to plan for it, and the life and death of Proposition 208. They also discuss Arizona’s Proposition 208 workarounds that are still the law. Gary Fletcher is an attorney and CPA at the firm Nystedt & Fletcher, PLLC in Tucson, Arizona. Gary practices tax accounting and estate planning, and is a Fellow in the...

Brent discusses some of the highlights from the 2022 ACTEC Conference, including Build Back Better, Secure Act, Smaldino, Levine, CCA202152018, Corporate Transparency Act, and racial inequality.

Brent discusses the war in Ukraine, some of the issues and arguments that have arisen during the crisis, and how to help refugees from Ukraine and elsewhere. Resources for finding organizations helping refugees can be found at: https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/us-resettlement-partners.html https://rcusa.org/members/ https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=4665#group-331 htt...

Brent chats with Patricia Annino about special considerations in estate planning for women. They discuss empowering women with education, getting them involved in the planning process, and keys to success. Patricia Annino is a partner in Rimon’s Trust and Estates Group. A nationally recognized authority on estate planning and taxation, Ms. Annino has more than 30 years of experience serving the di...

Brent and Reetu Pepoff discuss racial inequities in estate planning in the United States. They talk about the root causes of the issue, the wealth and planning gap, and what advisers can do to actively combat these problems. Reetu Pepoff is an Assistant General Counsel and Senior Vice President within the Legal Department at Northern Trust Chicago. Her role includes all aspects of advising Norther...

Brent chats with Frazer Rice about how to preserve generational wealth. They discuss strategies for communicating with clients about money, establishing a solid plan, and things advisors can do to maximize success. As a Regional Director for Pendleton Square Trust Company, Frazer focuses on building relationships in the Northeastern United States.  Frazer is the author of “Wealth, Actually: I...

This week, Brent chats with Lily Styrmoe about sustainable investing and ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) investing. They discuss what these terms mean, changes in the market, performance of investments in this space, and ways to evaluate funds and companies from a sustainable investing perspective. Lily Styrmoe is a CFP, CSRIC, and Financial Advisor at TCI Wealth Advisors. Li...

This week Brent discusses charitable remainder trusts. He covers how they are structured, what types of assets can be contributed (or not), how they operate, and their taxation. He also discusses different types of CRTs, from plain vanilla to Flip CRTs and net income with makeup CRTs.

This week on the podcast Brent discusses how volatile markets, combined with low interest rates, can be a terrific time for wealth planning. He explains how asset valuations and interest rates work relative to each other for maximum wealth transfers in GRATs, sales to irrevocable grantor trusts, CLATs, and preferred partnerships.

What’s happening in the markets this year? This week, Brent and Rachel sit down with Doug Nelson on the status of the investment markets over the last quarter and what we may expect in the coming months. Doug gets into rising interest rates, hedging against inflation, and remembering your goals and overall financial plan. Additionally, Doug gives advice for anyone who wants to get into a car...

A new year calls for tuning up your finances! This week on the Wealth & Law Podcast, Brent and Rachel sit down with Melanie Simons, the CEO of ReFrame Wealth, to discuss her top tips for getting on top of your finances for the new year. We discuss looking at your spending reports, grading your team of advisors, and more. Melanie Simons is a founding member and CEO of ReFrame Wealth. Melanie be...

With the hot real estate market, we’re constantly hearing from clients about investing in real estate. So this week on the Wealth & Law Podcast, Brent and Rachel bring in Eric Freeman to discuss how to get into real estate investing. We get into acquiring funding, being tax efficient, and holding your real estate in an LLC. Eric Freeman is a Tax Senior Manager for BeachFleischman PC and...

This week Brent, Rachel, and Deborah get together to share a few New Year’s Resolutions that they suggest for anyone wanting to be better organized financially, personally, and as a company. Their suggestions include learning the importance of “expense ratios,” updating your estate plan, starting to plan for the 2026 tax changes, and polishing up your non-profit entity. They also...

Over the weekend, the Build Back Better Act was dealt a devastating blow when Senator Manchin announced that he would not vote on the Act before the Christmas deadline. So what’s the fate of the Build Back Better Act and will we still see tax changes in the near future? On this week’s episode of the Wealth & Law Podcast, Brent and Rachel chat with John Strohmeyer to discuss the fut...