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Estates & Trusts Departments Welcomes Three New Hires

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As tax season starts, WFY welcomes three new hires to our Estates & Trusts department: Lisa Marking, Heena Shah, and Ann Doan.  We are pleased to welcome these new hires to the WFY team.

Lisa Marking

Lisa Marking joined Wright Ford Young & Co.’s Estates and Trusts department as an Estates & Trusts manager.  She went to Pepperdine University to receive her undergraduate degree as well as her law degree.  Lisa also attended University of Southern California to receive her Master’s degree in Taxation.  During her free time, Lisa likes to travel and attending music concerts.

Heena Shah

This month, Wright Ford Young & Co. team had the pleasure of Heena Shah joining the Estates & Trusts Department as an Estates & Trusts supervisor.  She comes from a background of 14 years of tax experience specifically in tax compliance and tax planning for high net worth individuals, trusts, and small businesses.  Heena earned her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and is an enrolled agent and a certified financial planner.  On her time off, she enjoys working out, cooking, and traveling.

Ann Doan

At the end of January, Wright Ford Young & Co. welcomed Ann Doan to the Estates and Trusts Department as Estates & Trusts staff.  Ann has a Juris Doctorate degree from Whittier Law School and a Masters of Law in Taxation from Chapman University.  Her experience with taxation includes representing taxpayers in matters before the IRS and California Board of Equalization as well as working in bankruptcy and creditors’ rights litigation. Out of the office, Ann loves to travel internationally and go to vegan food festivals.

If you think you’d be a great addition to WFY, please go to our Careers page and submit your résumé.

Making Large Gifts Now Won’t Harm Estates After 2025

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On November 20th, the IRS announced individuals taking advantage of the increased gift and estate tax exclusion amounts in effect from 2018 to 2025 will not be adversely impacted after 2025 when the exclusion amount is scheduled to drop to levels before 2018.

The Treasury Department and the IRS issued proposed regulations which implement changes made by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).  As a result, individuals planning to make large gifts between 2018 and 2025 can do so without concern that they will lose the tax benefit of the higher exclusion level once it decreases after 2025.

In general, gift and estate taxes are calculated, using a unified rate schedule, on taxable transfers of money, property and other assets. Any tax due is determined after applying a credit – formerly known as the unified credit – based on an applicable exclusion amount.

The applicable exclusion amount is the sum of the basic exclusion amount (BEA) established in the statute, and other elements (if applicable) described in the proposed regulations. The credit is first used during life to offset gift tax and any remaining credit is available to reduce or eliminate estate tax.

The TCJA temporarily increased the BEA from $5 million to $10 million for tax years 2018 through 2025, with both dollar amounts adjusted for inflation. For 2018, the inflation-adjusted BEA is $11.18 million. In 2026, the BEA will revert to the 2017 level of $5 million as adjusted for inflation.

To address concerns that an estate tax could apply to gifts exempt from gift tax by the increased BEA, the proposed regulations provide a special rule that allows the estate to compute its estate tax credit using the higher of the BEA applicable to gifts made during life or the BEA applicable on the date of death.

To discuss more about your gift and estate tax situation, contact WFY’s Estates and Trusts Partners, Marisa Alvarado and Kevin Wiest, at info@cpa-wfy.com or (949) 910-2727.

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WFY is Hiring

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Wright Ford Young & Co. is seeking qualified candidates to join our growing team! We are looking for hard-working, dedicated people who are willing to learn and flourish in their careers.  Full-time positions are available for the following departments:

Tax Department

  • Staff
  • Preparer

Estates & Trusts Department

  • Senior
  • Supervisor
  • Manager

Audit Department

  • Staff

If interested in any of the positions above, please email your resumes careers@cpa-wfy.com or directly contact the following:

Tax Department: Richard Huffman, rhuffman@cpa-wfy.com

Estates & Trusts Department: Marisa Alvarado, malvarado@cpa-wfy.com

Audit Department: Jeff Myers, jmyers@cpa-wfy.com

 

 

WFY Continues to Grow Firm with New Hires

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Wright Ford Young continues to grow the firm with four new hires: Marisa Alvarado, Nicholas Valdez, Collin Sidler, and Cameron Bauer.  Marisa and Nicholas are the newest additions to WFY’s Estates & Trusts Department while Collin and Cameron are the newest additions to the Audit Department.  WFY is pleased to welcome these new hires to the WFY team.

Marisa Alvarado

Wright For Young & Co. welcomed Marisa Alvarado as its Estates & Trusts Tax Partner in June. Marisa has over 30 years of experience in public accounting with the last 20 years in High Net Worth Advanced Estate Planning. She has worked as management at a few of the leading accounting firms including RSM LLP and KPMG LLP. Her specialties consist of tax planning for high net worth clients as well as successful strategies in tax, estate, gift, and succession planning.

Nicholas Valdez

This month, Nicholas Valdez joined Wright Ford Young & Co. as a Family Office Accountant. For the past twelve years, he’s been a family office bookkeeper for high net worth clients. While pursuing his degree in business administration with an emphasis on accounting at Cal Stat University Fullerton, Nicholas worked as a Manager in Golf Services at Shady Canyon Golf Club in Irvine.

Collin Sidler

Collin Sidler joined the Wright Ford Young & Co. team as Audit Staff in May. After achieving his Bachelor’s degree in accounting at Cal State Fullerton, his first job out of college was an Audit Staff at Deloitte. Collin is also a co-founder of a small internet-based start-up company.

Cameron Bauer

This month, we had the pleasure of adding Cameron Bauer to Wright Ford Young & Co. Cameron is a member of the Audit Staff and will be working in Wright Ford Young’s audit department.   He recently graduated from Biola University Crowell School of Business where he played golf for 4 years.