Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about charitable giving and estate planning ideas. Many taxpayers created irrevocable trusts and transferred significant ...

In today’s Living Akamai segment, John spoke with Kay Mukaigawa of Engel & Volkers Honolulu about an important topic in real estate and estate planning: cost basis and the stepped-up basis rule. Kay ...

Estate planning has long been about building and preserving wealth, minimizing taxes and smoothly transferring assets across generations. With the new administration in office, discussions around ...

I noticed this tweet from a wealth adviser: “The greatest perpetuator of U.S. wealth inequality is the stepped-up basis rule. Basically, when you die, all the capital gains on your assets (home, ...

Q: My wife and I own two real estate properties. We plan on leaving those properties separately to our two sons when we pass. We would like to make sure that we minimize any related federal taxes ...

Dear Liz: I own a house with my longtime boyfriend. If one of us dies, how does the capital gains step-up affect the other? Answer: The deceased partner’s share of the home will get a new basis for ...

What if a husband and wife own a home together that increases in value by $500,000. When one spouse dies and the other owns the property themselves, do they receive a step-up in basis? Or do they only ...

Stepped up basis can minimize the tax bill. Basis is a key concept to understand here. Let’s say you bought a bunch of stock for $100,000 and a few years later sold it for $250,000. To understand how ...