Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq., an Estate Planning Attorney
Pending in the NJ Legislature is a bill to amend the New Jersey transfer inheritance tax to eliminate the tax on brothers and sisters of a decedent for transfers made on or after January 1, 2009. Presently, transfers to brothers and sisters of a decedent are taxed according to the rate imposed on “Class C” beneficiaries, or at a rate of 11 to 16 percent depending on the amount transferred, with the first $25,000 exempt from taxation. This bill would effectively treat transfers to a brother or sister of a decedent on par with transfers to other immediate family members, including the spouse, domestic partner, civil union partner, father, mother, grandparent, or child of a decedent.
Fredrick P. Niemann, a Freehold, Monmouth County attorney with significant credentials in estate planning and asset protection offered a supporting statement, “I have counseled families for over a decade about the benefits of strategically avoiding NJ’s punitive, oppressive and grossly unfair tax estate structure on middle and upper middle class families by use of lawful estate planning techniques. NJ must do more to make this state friendly to what remains of its’ productive and wealth generating residents. Otherwise, I tell everyone to move to Florida, the southern states or out west where residents are not taxed to death.”
For further information and advice in any elder law matter, do not hesitate to contact me at 732-863-9900 Ext. 101 or 105, or fniemann@hnlawfirm.com/.