Webinar: Estate planning opportunities, considerations for HNW individuals in the post-election, post-coronavirus age'

December 11, 2020
By staff writer
News

While it's sometimes said that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes, the still-raging coronavirus pandemic and recent U.S. elections have increased the degree of uncertainty with respect to the tax element of that truism for some more than others, according to the experts at Israel-based, American expat-focused Silver & Co. law firm.

With this in mind, Silver & Co. is co-hosting a webinar with Dunhill Financial, the London-based, American expat-focused wealth advisory firm, on what they call the "Estate planning oportunities and considerations for high-net-worth individuals" during these uncertain times.

Two sessions of the webinar are planned, in order to enable it to make it more easily accessible to American expatriates and their advisers around the world.

Silver & Co. and Dunhill Financial say that the webinar will highlight estate-planning strategies that "can be implemented before year-end, and afterwards".

"The importance of valuation in estate planning is clear," they say, in a statement detailing their outline for the event.

"[For example], the estate tax is based on the fair market value (FMV) of the estate at death – while for gift tax purposes, the FMV of a gift is valued on the basis of what it is worth at the time the gift is made. This begs the question as to how one goes about determining the FMV at this point."

Then there's the U.S. gift tax exemption to consider, Silver & Co. and Dunhill Financial note. While the current exemption is US$11.5m – currently due to fall back to US$5.5M in 2025 – questions are being asked already as to whether the new, Democratic administration, with considerable support if not a full majority in Congress, might reduce this amount before that date, and by how much.

In other words, they say, "what happens if someone gives away US$11.5m today, and the exemption falls to US$5.5m tomorrow?"

The first session of the webinar may be viewed in parts of Asia, such as Japan and South Korea, at 7pm on the 17th, which translates as 6pm in Australia and Beijing; 12 noon in Israel, 11am in France and Germany, and 10am in London. To register for this session, click here.

The second session can be accessed by Americans on the West Coast at 9am, and those on the East Coast (New York and Washington, DC) at noon; those in London can particpate at 5pm, and in Western Europe at 6pm and Israel at 7pm.

To register for this second session, click here.