Cummings & Lockwood LLC
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News & Insights

Practical Steps to Take When Downsizing from a Home

November 2018

Kathleen M. Merrigan, a residential real estate attorney in Cummings & Lockwood’s Private Clients Group in Greenwich, Connecticut, discusses the tax and practical steps individuals should be taking before they downsize, including figuring out the cost basis in their home, preparing for sale, cleaning up open permits, and resolving the estate tax lien from a predeceased spouse.  (11:00)

Estate Planning for an Individual in Their Later Life

November 2018

Daniel P. Fitzgerald, a trusts and estates attorney in Cummings & Lockwood’s Private Clients Group in Greenwich, Connecticut, discusses how to navigate the sensitive issues surrounding the incapacity and last days of an individual’s life, including deathbed gifts, funding of revocable trusts, simplification of asset base and step up in basis planning.  (17:28)

Regulations Proposed by IRS Would Eliminate Lingering Concerns About Clawback

November 19, 2018

On November 20, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations to address one of the lingering concerns of using the increased gift tax exemption on gifts prior to 2026 - the so-called “clawback.”

Cummings & Lockwood Attorneys in Connecticut and Florida Named 2019 Best Lawyers in America

October 31, 2018

Cummings & Lockwood LLC is pleased to announce that 32 of its attorneys in Connecticut and Florida have been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® 2019. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence.

Modification of a GST Trust Didn't Impact Its Exclusion Status

A recent PLR demonstrates the dangers that even judicial modifications can pose to a trust's tax status.
October 25, 2018

Chapter 13 of the Internal Revenue Code imposes a tax on generation-skipping transfers (that is, transfers to individuals more than one generation below the donor).


Trusts & Estates Magazine Website
By Caroline Demirs Calio and Andrew M. Nerney

17 Cummings & Lockwood Attorneys Have Been Named 2018 New England Super Lawyers and Rising Stars

October 24, 2018

Cummings & Lockwood is pleased to announce that 12 attorneys have been selected to the 2018 New England Super Lawyers list and five attorneys have been selected to the 2018 Rising Stars list. 

Cummings & Lockwood’s Naples, Florida Office Marks Its 40th Anniversary

Cummings & Lockwood’s Naples, Florida office recently marked its 40th Anniversary. Established in 1978, the Naples office was the first Cummings & Lockwood office to be opened in Florida.

Cummings & Lockwood’s Palm Beach Gardens Office Named “Trust & Estates Law Firm of the Year in Florida” by Global Law Experts

Cummings & Lockwood’s Palm Beach Gardens, Florida office has been selected as the 2018 “Trust & Estates Law Firm of the Year in Florida” by Global Law Experts. 

Charitable Deduction for Gifts by Individuals, Partnerships and Corporations

A primer on a plethora of philanthropic provisions

Trusts & Estates Magazine
By Conrad Teitell, Stefania L. Bartlett, and Cara Howe Santoro

Increased Charitable Giving Through the Legacy IRA Act

September 10, 2018

Charitable-minded Americans age 70½ or older are allowed tax-free transfers from their IRAs to make direct gifts to charitable organizations.


Steve Leimberg's Charitable Planning Newsletter
By Conrad Teitell, Brianna L. Marquis, and Andrew Brett Seiken

Internal Revenue Manual Updates Provide Welcome Guidance for Federal Estate Tax Lien Release Process

September 4, 2018

Real property owned at the time of an individual’s death is subject to a federal estate tax lien, which, in accordance with IRC section 6324, attaches to the property automatically and provides security for any estate taxes that may be owed. 

Cummings & Lockwood Assists Estate in Preserving Significant Estate Tax Deduction Challenged by IRS

August 29, 2018

Cummings & Lockwood LLC successfully defeated an argument by the Internal Revenue Service where the IRS required the payment of additional federal estate tax based on the IRS’s partial disallowance of the deduction for state death taxes under § 2058 of the Internal Revenue Code (the “IRC”).