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Ten Attorneys from Solomon Dwiggins Freer & Steadman, LTD. Named Mountain State Super Lawyers

Solomon Dwiggins Freer & Steadman, LTD., a Las Vegas-based boutique law firm dedicated to trust and estate law, announced today that an unprecedented total of 10 lawyers from the firm have been named to the 2017 list of Mountain States Super Lawyers, a renowned ranking of outstanding attorneys across the region. Less than 5 percent of lawyers in the state of Nevada receive this distinction.
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Nevada Supreme Court Issues Advance Opinion in Favor of Solomon Dwiggins Freer & Steadman, LTD. Client

Typically reticent on matters involving trusts and estates, the Nevada Supreme Court has issued its first reported opinion for 2017 in the trust and estate context.

On behalf of Solomon Dwiggins Freer & Steadman, LTD., attorneys Mark A. Solomon prevailed upon the court on two issues last month, determined by the Nevada Supreme Court as matters of first impression.
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Solomon Dwiggins Freer & Steadman, LTD. Summer Newsletter
Solomon, Dwiggins and Freer is pleased to announce that it will begin to publish a quarterly Newsletter, the purpose of which is to provide cutting edge and informative articles pertaining to trust and estate litigation and administration, estate planning, tax matters, and general civil litigation.
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Demystifying REITs: A look at benefits, costs of conversions

Interest in real estate investment trusts, commonly known as REITs, has surged. REITs are not new, but they are arising in new contexts.

Created in 1960 under the Internal Revenue Code, a REIT is defined as a corporation, trust or other entity taxable as a corporation that meets a number of tests intended to ensure it is primarily a real estate investment vehicle.

Planning For Decanting: A Tax Checklist For The Trustee

Word is getting around that it is now possible – perhaps even easy – to change the terms of an irrevocable trust without going to court. The mechanism, commonly referred to as decanting, is the power of the trustee to make a distribution to a new trust. This once-obscure, common law doctrine has entered the mainstream, after having been codified in several states, including Nevada.

Small Business Succession Opportunities

Small businesses grow through the ingenuity of their owners. An owner’s pride in a flourishing business can make identifying and implementing a succession plan difficult, but addressing succession planning can prevent disastrous outcomes.

Structured Settlements & Attorneys’ Fees: The Basics

Clients are often unaware of the range of settlement payment options available to them. That puts the burden on their attorneys to understand the basics of structured settlements and their potential benefits. This article can serve as a checklist an attorney can use to identify the issues involved and avoid missing opportunities for both the client and the attorney.

Five tips for handling estate planning for closely held business

Estate planning for a closely held business is not conducive to one-size-fits-all solutions, and there are traps for the poorly advised.

Below are key steps business owners should take to prevent their businesses from being tied up in litigation, hobbled with tax liabilities, or controlled by people who have little understanding of the business:

Property Condemnations Under Section 1033

Section 1033 is an important relief provision allowing nonrecognition of gain upon the condemnation of a taxpayer’s property to the extent the taxpayer reinvests the proceeds in similar property. However, gain nonrecognition is limited to the proceeds from property. When a condemnation award or settlement payment is made with respect to non-property items, difficult apportionment issues may arise. The authors recommend analyzing these potential issues in advance and providing specific allocations whenever possible to improve and facilitate income tax reporting of a condemnation.
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Courts to IRS, Ease Up on Conversation Easement Valuations
The popularity of donating conservation easements has exploded in recent years. According to statistics reported by the Land Trust Alliance, between 2000 and 2005, the amount of land protected by local and state land trusts using easements doubled, totaling 6.2 million acres. In response to this growing popularity, the IRS has begun scrutinizing charitable contribution deductions for conservation easements, including challenging the valuation given by some donors. Increasingly, the IRS has taken the position that conservation easements have little or no value.
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SILOs and LILOs Demystified
You may think you know what LILOs and SILOs are and how they work. But to quote a recent movie title, it’s complicated. Lilo was also the name of a complicated character in a 2002 Disney movie, paired with an alien called Stitch. But there’s nothing alien about LILOs or SILOs.
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State Tax Conformity and Qualified Settlement Funds
Qualified settlement funds (QSFs or 468B funds) are commonly set up to resolve litigation and to allocate settlement proceeds among claimants and their attorneys. The impetus for Congress enacting section 468B in 1986 was to confirm tax deductions to defendants. In contrast to the normal tax rule of reciprocity and economic performance, the idea was that defendants who contribute to a QSF should not have to wait to claim tax deductions for funds to be disbursed to plaintiffs.
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College age children and estate plans: What you need to know.
The school year recently began across the country. No matter the age of the child, whether five or 18, parents take steps to help make sure their children are ready for the new school year. One important step that parents of college age children may not think of:estate planning.
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