Massachusetts: 9% Surtax on Accumulation, 16% Estate Tax From $2M. De Prins confirmed self-settled trusts don't protect Massachusetts residents. The estate tax starts at $2M with no portability. The surtax hits on the way in.
Oregon Family Trust & Estate Tax: The $1M Exemption Problem. Oregon's estate tax exemption is $1 million — the lowest in the country. A $4M Portland estate already owes state tax. What a family trust does and doesn't solve.
Washington Estate Tax: $3M Exemption, 35% Top Rate, No Portability. Washington taxes estates above $3 million at rates now reaching 35%, with no spousal portability. The federal exemption is $15 million. That gap is the whole problem.
New York Estate Tax Cliff, EPTL §7-3.1, and Koehler Turnover. New York voids self-settled trusts outright, lets courts compel worldwide asset turnover, and has a cliff that can cost $1M on a single dollar of appreciation.
What Should Be Included in a Financial Plan to Protect Assets? The textbook answer is insurance. That's right for most households and wrong for anyone with real exposure. What a protection plan actually contains, layer by layer.
Can You Protect Assets in Divorce? What the Law Actually Allows. Family courts value assets regardless of title and sanction reactive transfers. What actually survives — prenuptial documentation, traced separate property, and third-party trusts.
How Asset Protection Works: Timing, Control, Jurisdiction, Collectibility. How asset protection works — four structural pillars explained by a former plaintiff litigation attorney who spent years taking these structures apart.