The first trust, commonly referred to as a credit shelter or bypass trust, holds assets to preserve the estate tax exclusion amount. That amount is $5.49 million for 2017 (up from $5.45 million for 2016). The deceased’s spouse can then use the income and even some of the principal from the trust, with the remaining…

When a professional appraiser values a business, he or she will likely seek input from the current owners of the business to get the inside scoop on how the business works. In fact, “nature of the business and history of the enterprise since its inception” is one of the eight factors to consider under IRS…

Intellectual property is a source of significant value for many businesses today, but it can be difficult to value. There are three main reasons it’s hard to value. First, it can be hard to understand, because it’s often technical in nature. Second, there are many types of intellectual property and each asset is unique by nature. (For example, the U.S. Patent Office…