DOROTHY J. CANNETTI

SENIOR COUNSEL

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Dorothy J. Cannetti handles all aspects of estate and tax planning, estate and trust administration, and litigation matters in Surrogate’s Court.

Practices

About

In Dorothy’s planning practice, she helps individuals and families establish and implement their wealth-transfer plans to carry out their intentions, but also avoid adverse tax and legal consequences. Dorothy has spent nearly a decade in this space dealing with the more intricate and technical issues necessary to carry out particularly complex plans.

For estate and trust administration matters, Dorothy handles the required Surrogate’s Court proceedings and advises fiduciaries regarding estate, gift, generation-skipping transfer, and income tax issues. She also supervises the day-to-day administration of estates and trusts and oversees the preparation of estate, gift, and income tax returns and various other types of required filings.

As a part of her Surrogate’s Court litigation practice, Dorothy assists in the representation of fiduciaries and beneficiaries. Dorothy has participated in various types of proceedings including will contests, contested judicial accountings, and miscellaneous proceedings. Although contested matters are inherently acrimonious, her goal is to achieve the desired outcome for the client as efficiently as possible.

In addition to her legal practice, Dorothy also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Trusts & Estates practice group’s e-newsletter, Private Wealth Quarterly.

Education

New York Law School (J.D., magna cum laude, 2007)

New York Law School Law Review

University at Albany, State University of New York (B.S., summa cum laude, 2004)

Bar Admissions

2008, New York

Insights

IRS Announces 2024 Inflation Adjustments to Estate, Gift and Generation-Skipping Tax Exemptions

 November 21, 2023

The IRS recently released Revenue Procedure 2023-34, which announced 2024 annual inflation adjustments for various tax provisions. Effective January 1, 2024, the estate and gift tax basic exclusion amount and the generation‑skipping transfer (“GST”) tax exemption are scheduled to increase from $12,920,000 to $13,610,000.  This is an increase of $690,000 per person or $1,380,000 for…

IRS Announces 2023 Inflation Adjustments to Estate, Gift and Generation-Skipping Tax Exemptions

 October 20, 2022

On October 18, 2022, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2022-38, which announced 2023 annual inflation adjustments for various tax provisions. Effective January 1, 2023, the estate and gift tax basic exclusion amount and the generation‑skipping transfer (“GST”) tax exemption are scheduled to increase from $12,060,000 to $12,920,000. This is an increase of $860,000 per person or…

Update: Ways and Means Committee Proposes New Legislation

 October 6, 2021

Kleinberg Kaplan recently sent a Trusts & Estates Client Alert discussing potential changes to the tax law that were proposed by the House Ways and Means Committee (click here for the Client Alert). A recent report issued by the House Budget Committee regarding the proposals has important implications concerning the proposed provisions related to grantor…

Ways and Means Committee Proposes New Legislation

 September 28, 2021

The House Ways and Means Committee recently released a draft of the tax portion of the proposed reconciliation bill. Some of the proposals affecting individual taxpayers, estates and trusts are described below. Termination of Temporary Increase in Gift and Estate Tax Exclusion Amount The gift and estate tax exclusion amount is presently $11.7 million (indexed…

Post-Election Trusts & Estates Planning Considerations

 November 9, 2020

In the wake of the 2020 election, many expect that the Biden administration will seek to engage Congress to enact new tax legislation in order to raise revenue to pay the costs associated with the pandemic and other government programs. The administration’s ability to set policy will be impacted by the final results of several…

Current Estate and Gift Tax Planning Opportunities

 July 8, 2020

As the global economy continues to feel the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 crisis, now may be an appropriate time to consider potential estate planning opportunities: Low Interest Rates: The IRS prescribes minimum interest rates that taxpayers must charge on most loans (including installment sales) to avoid gift tax consequences. These IRS rates are now…

SECURE, CARES and Retirement Account Distributions in 2020

 June 26, 2020

Both the SECURE Act enacted in December 2019 and the CARES Act enacted in March 2020 changed the rules governing distributions from retirement plans and IRAs. Under the SECURE Act, retirement plan participants and IRA owners no longer have to begin taking distributions until April 1 of the calendar year after they reach age 72…

SECURE Act Changes Key Retirement Plan and IRA Rules Alerts

 December 30, 2019

Retirement benefits (such as pension, profit-sharing, 401(k) or IRA benefits) make up a substantial portion of many people’s assets. Congress recently passed, and the President signed on December 20, 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Act (the SECURE Act) as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020. The SECURE Act made various…

Discounting Under Attack By IRS

 August 31, 2016,

On August 2, 2016, the IRS issued proposed regulations for Section 2704 of the Internal Revenue Code, which would substantially impact the ability of taxpayers to discount the value of certain assets in order to reduce gift and estate taxes. The regulations specifically target the use of Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs) and Family Limited Liability…

Qualified Charitable Distributions from IRAs Extended for 2014

 December 19, 2014

The Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 extended the ability of certain IRA owners to make qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) for 2014. A QCD is a distribution to a public charity (other than a donor advised fund) from an IRA. Only IRA owners over age 70½ can make QCDs. The limit on QCDs for 2014…

Changes to NY Trust & Estate Tax Treatment

 April 8, 2014

In February we alerted you that Governor Cuomo’s budget bill proposed important changes to the New York estate tax and the New York income taxation of certain trusts. The changes just enacted, described below, were scaled back from the original proposals, though still represent significant and important changes. Estate Tax Exclusion. The New York estate…

New Yorkers Take Note – Action May Be Needed By March 31

 February 5, 2014

Governor Cuomo’s recently released budget bill proposes important changes to the New York estate tax and the New York income taxation of certain trusts. Proposed changes require high net worth individuals and trustees of certain trusts to consider taking action between now and March 31st. Taxing Gifts. One proposed change is to increase, for New…