ESTATE
Continued from Page 11 Trust Act now allows individuals ( both Florida residents and non-residents ) to contribute assets to a “ community property trust ,” with all property within the trust treated as community property . Common law state property ( i . e ., separate property ) may be contributed to a “ community property trust ,” converting it to community property . Thus , Florida has effectively created a mechanism by which spouses can elect into community property treatment for select assets .
Some of the potential benefits of community property are that ( i ) community property is not subject to Internal Revenue Code Section 2040 , and thus may qualify as valuation discounts for a non-controlling fractional interest , ( ii ) gifts of community property do not require a gift-splitting election , which practically allows for an automatic gift-splitting election without the requirement of filing a federal gift tax return , ( iii ) ownership of a limited liability company as community property does not require the filing of a partnership tax return ( i . e ., it qualifies as a disregarded entity ), and ( iv ) qualification for the Internal Revenue Code ( IRC ) Section 1014 ( b )( 6 ) adjustment to basis on 100 % of the community property at the first spouse ’ s death .
Various other states ( e . g ., Tennessee , South Dakota , Kentucky , Alaska ) have elective type community property regimes ; however , there are no court decisions , IRS rulings , or even guidance as to whether such regimes are accepted under the federal tax law . There is authority supporting both federal tax law acceptance and disallowance ; however , such authority is not “ on all fours ” ( i . e ., it is distinguishable ). Therefore , it is imperative to advise clients considering a community property trust of the risks involved .
Some of the potential risks of a community property trust are : ( i ) the client may spend time and money setting up a trust for basis planning , which ultimately may be rejected by the Internal Revenue Service ; ( ii ) the legislation proposed by the Green Book may pass , completely doing away with the step-up in basis upon death ; ( iii ) community property trusts do not provide the same creditor protection as tenants by the entireties titling and may subject the assets to additional creditor risk ; ( iv ) upon a marital breakdown the community property trust may not effectuate the client ’ s intent ; and ( v ) assets can depreciate , causing a step-down in basis at death .
CLERK
Continued from Page 17 court cases when filing documents with Social Security numbers , bank account numbers , or other non-public information . n Identify the type of confidential information or provision that applies to the identified information . n Identify the precise location ( s ) of confidential information within the document , including each page number on which it appears .
As we slowly implement the changes to Rule 2.420 , we want to have confidence that the legal community understands and can meet the new filing requirements . The Florida Court Clerks and Comptroller ’ s Association created a short , informative video that explains how to ensure that a filer does not expose protected information . The video and a ready-touse Notice of Confidential Information form are available on the Sarasota Clerk and Comptroller ’ s website .
‘ JANE ’
Continued from Page 9 my life , and gave me a renewed passion for the practice of law . As lawyers , we should all be blessed to have a “ Jane ” in our lives .
PRESIDENT
MEMBERSHIP
Welcome , new members ! n Yazen Dides : Blalock Walters , P . A . n Andi Easterling : Wicker Smith n Michael Farr : Blalock Walters , P . A . n Valerie Fuchs : Office of the County Attorney n Jesse LeVine : Office of the County Attorney n Karla Lopez : Moran , Sanchy & Associates
n Thomas Marino II : Law Offices of Wells | Olah , P . A .
n Christopher McDonagh : Raven & McDonagh , P . C .
n Jacob Paglialonga : Lobeck & Hanson , P . A . n Nicholas Sato : Lutz , Bobo & Telfair , P . A . n Justin Vaske : Office of the County Attorney
n Michael Wallach : Law Offices of Wells | Olah , P . A .
Affiliate Members n Susan Custer : Mallard Law Firm n Alberto Gonzalez III : Mallard Law Firm n Tracey Hammer : Mallard Law Firm n Laura Hughes : Mallard Law Firm n Tara Jones : Mallard Law Firm
n Elba Laucer : Law Offices of Wells | Olah , P . A .
n Kathy Miller : Mallard Law Firm n Angel Rider : Mallard Law Firm n Sonya Rietz : Dunlap & Moran , P . A . n Cassidy Rodriguez : Mallard Law Firm n Gladys Vega : Mallard Law Firm
Continued from Page 5 for our annual Installation Dinner ( which was on hiatus last year due to Covid ). We had it planned for September and then rescheduled for October , but the ultimate party pooper has forced us to shelve it for now . The Installation will happen , even if we have to do it next June . I hope I ’ m kidding , and we have it a lot sooner than that . When it ’ s safe , we will get it scheduled and want to see as many of you as can attend at Michael ’ s for a big celebration . For now , we ’ ll see you on Zoom at upcoming section meetings and look forward to the day we can all gather in person .
THE DOCKET · OCTOBER 2021 19