Newsletters
Oct 06, 2026
IRS finalizes increase in estate tax closing letter fee
The IRS issued final regulations Thursday, increasing the user fee for an estate tax closing letter to $76 from $56....
Questions regarding Web Appraise v2.1
Web Appraise v2.1, released in August, has been well received. Here are answers to two recent client questions....
Sep 29, 2026
The Great Wealth Transfer Is Arriving – Just Not The Way Anyone Planned
For a decade, estate planners have organized their world around a single number: roughly $100 trillion that the Baby Boomers were supposed to hand down....
How Does the Cost Basis Calculator Work?
The report will fully account for dividend reinvestment and corporate actions from that date through today or through the date of submission (today)....
Sep 22, 2026
The Estate Planning Documents Clients Need At Every Life Stage
Estate planning isn’t a one-time conversation you have and then forget. It’s an evolving process, and the documents shift as your clients' lives do....
Is there a benefit to moving from software to the Web platform?
We've built a web-based platform that firms can deploy in our secure data center or on their own infrastructure, meeting any governance standard....
Sep 15, 2026
Estate portability elections of unused estate and gift tax exemption must be meticulously prepared
When making a portability election, strict compliance with all the requirements is important....
Pricing options (calls & puts)
If you are pricing options (calls & puts) and don't have the required identifier, our Options Lookup product may be what you need....
Sep 08, 2026
How Adult Children Affect Gray Marriage Estate Planning
A couple in their 60s met with an advisor to discuss their upcoming marriage. Both had adult children from previous marriages and had very different finances....
Updated Help Center Resource: IRS Regulations & Regulatory Cross- References
We updated the IRS Regulations page in our Help Center with direct cross-reference links to official statutory texts....
Sep 01, 2026
The Estate Tax Sunset Didn't Happen—Don't Assume You're In The Clear
For most, that's true at the federal level. But it overlooks something the federal law never touched....
No special deals, just honest pricing
By providing open, upfront pricing across all our services, Evaluation Services, Inc. ensures that our clients receive exceptional value and full transparency....
Aug 25, 2026
The Buss Children Are Squabbling Over Their Remaining Lakers Stake
Naturally, after his death these six Buss children got caught up in over a decade of infighting that saw them split into three rough camps....
Accrued Dividends For Mutual Funds
The data in your report aligns with applicable IRS Regulations based on the ex-dividend, record, and pay dates for each asset....
Aug 18, 2026
Nike’s Founder Has Moved $9 Billion to His Heirs and the Gift-Tax Bill Was Roughly $0. The Trust He Used Has a Name and It’s Legal in All 50 States
GRATs are legal in all 50 states, typically cost between $5,000 and $15,000 to establish, and pass all asset growth above the IRS hurdle rate to heirs tax-free....
ESI-Appraise GRAT valuations
Because they're so common, many of our clients use us for GRAT valuations. We offer them in Principle Only and Including Accruals formats....
Aug 11, 2026
Eligible taxpayers may receive automatic penalty relief
Taxpayers with a history of filing and paying on time may now have an easier path to receive penalty relief....
Name changes map historically
Even though AHP didn't change its name to Wyeth until 2002 and the valuation is in 2001, the AHP data is the Wyeth data. All AHP data were relabeled for WYE....
Aug 04, 2026
An Estate Planning Checklist For The Rest Of 2026
Whatever the state of your plan, it is easier to create or update it using this checklist of the essential steps for every plan....
WebAppraise v2.1.0 upgrade completed
The upgrade includes some new features, which you can read about by clicking......