Federal Taxes on Gratuitous Transfers Law and Planning: Law and Planning, Second Edition

Federal Taxes on Gratuitous Transfers: Law and Planning, Second Edition is a sophisticated Estate & Gift Tax casebook with plenty of problems, nuance, and policy discussion. 

This book deals primarily with the federal wealth transfer taxes, and with the federal income tax as it bears on gratuitous transfers. The federal wealth transfer taxes presently consist of a partially unified estate and gift tax and a generation-skipping tax. The federal transfer tax system is separate and apart from the federal income tax.  The book includes relevant case law and references to statutes and regulations and has many explanations and problems to help students new to the field to find a way through this complicated material.  The book is appropriate for both J.D. and LL.M. courses in Estate and Gift Tax. 

New to the 2nd Edition:  

• All material up to date with current law and current exemption amounts (as of 2023) 
• All new chapter on estate and gift tax issues for individuals who are noncitizens or nonresidents 
• Income taxation of trusts and estates material moved to stand-alone chapter  
• Raises issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, and other identity taxes, making it easier for students to connect doctrine and policy 
• Discussion of policy debate around long-term and perpetual trusts 
• Lists, illustrations and photographs provide engaging visual commentary 
• Sidebars on relevant persons, places, and things provide interesting content, surprising those who think that tax is a dry and boring subject  

Professors and students will benefit from: 

• Emphasis on text, statutes, and regulations, rather than cases. 
• “Building block” organization (simple to complex estates), rather than segmented organization according to Code sections. 
• Extensive use of questions and problems to aid students. 
• High-profile authorship: Joseph M. Dodge and Wendy C. Gerzog are distinguished emeriti faculty. Bridget J. Crawford, Jennifer Bird-Pollan, and Victoria J. Haneman are all well-established in the field and are attuned to the needs of today’s students. 
• Reconstitutes the Estate and Gift tax course from the ground up in light of modern estates practice. 
• More emphasis on valuation and use of FLPs than in other books; valuation is introduced early on and integrated with other material. 
• Relation of tax doctrine to tax planning strategies. 
• Focus on doctrine that influences the practice of estate and trust law, rather than doctrine for its own sake. 
• Reference to state law (including recent developments) as it bears on transfer tax issues, with full coverage of issues raised by community property systems