"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there." When we were children we learned that verse, and it is still part of the season.
The legend has it that a gentle nobleman lost his wife to illness, and his fortune to poor judgment, and moved into a peasant's hut with his three daughters. Because there was no money for dowries, the daughters could not be married.
On the day before Christmas the daughters hung their stockings by the chimney. St. Nicholas happened by, saw the stockings, and tossed sacks of gold coins down the chimney and into the stockings. The daughters were then able to marry, and the nobleman went on to live a long and happy life.
This Christmas, as estate planners, we would like to have in our stocking a new estate tax law, which would be no more burdensome than what we have now.
The Internal Revenue Service would like to see, in its stocking, an end to valuation discounts of all types. For years we have been using family limited partnerships or limited liability companies, grantor retained annuity trusts, and a number of other devices to reduce the value of assets for estate tax purposes. The Internal Revenue Service wants to see an end to those devices, and Congress just might give them that as part of a new estate tax law.
If your estate is likely to be subject to a federal tax, contact us now to see what can be done before the year's end to save transfer taxes. We are not at all sure that those tax-reducing techniques will survive another year. And do make annual exclusion gifts ($13,000 each to as many people as you wish) if you need to reduce your estate.
We who live on the elbow of the Cape are blessed. Our stockings are already full. We look to the east and see the sun rise out of the ocean to
bring the promise of a new day and warm us. The fog comes and blots out the horizon, and then blows away, leaving us with a refreshed vision of the sea and the sand.
We wish you all the best for this season and the new year.
