Doherty Consulting S.C.

If your estate might exceed the federal estate tax exemption ($15 million for 2026), you’re probably concerned about future estate tax liability. A spousal lifetime access trust (SLAT) may help. A SLAT can allow you to remove wealth from your estate tax-free while providing a safety net if your needs change in the future. Essentially, a SLAT is an irrevocable trust you establish for the benefit of your spouse plus your children or other relatives. Your spouse is granted limited access to the trust’s funds during his or her lifetime, giving you indirect access. Call us at (920) 451-1040 to discuss whether a SLAT makes sense for you.

If you’d like to arrange for a transfer of wealth through multiple generations, consider a dynasty trust. Assets are taxed just once, when they’re initially transferred to the trust. There’s no estate or generation-skipping transfer tax due on any subsequent appreciation in value. A drawback is that the trust is irrevocable. This means it generally can never be revised. Call us at (920) 451-1040 for more details.

Final regulations released by the IRS stipulate that partnerships no longer need to provide detailed gain and loss information to selling partners by January 31. This deadline had become a contentious issue. The tax code requires that any portion of a partnership’s sale proceeds attributable to the partner’s share of unrealized receivables and inventory items be reported as ordinary income. Other sale proceeds are generally taxed as capital gains. But partnerships complained that the reporting deadline was hard to meet. Now, partnerships can provide such information to partners according to their natural end-of-year tax compliance cycle, on or with Schedule K-1. Contact us at (920) 451-1040 to discuss this and other tax filing requirements for partnerships.

Your financial life is more interconnected than you may realize. Your tax, retirement and estate planning should work together to support your goals today and protect your legacy tomorrow. We can help you bring it all together with a coordinated strategy to reduce taxes, build retirement savings and achieve your estate planning objectives. Contact us at (920) 451-1040.

Has administrative complexity discouraged your business from offering a 401(k) plan? Take a look at the safe harbor 401(k). The employer contribution obligation generally exempts the plan from nondiscrimination testing and other onerous administrative duties. Plus, this plan enables highly compensated employees to max out their contributions and can help attract and retain workers. Typically, employees are eligible to participate if they're age 21 or older and have at least one year of service. Call us (920) 451-1040 for details.