1. 2003 Annual $11,000.00 Federal Gift Tax Exclusion Gifts

For those of you who have not yet made your 2003 Annual $11,000.00 Federal Gift Tax Exclusion Gifts but wish to do so, whether as part of a lifetime gifting program or not, we recommend that your 2003 gifts be completed as far in advance of the end of this calendar year as possible. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have or if you require any assistance with any gifts you wish to make.

2. State Responses to Estate Tax Changes Enacted as Part of the Federal
   Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA)

As discussed in our Spring 2003 Estate Planning Update, the states of Maine and Massachusetts have decoupled their state estate tax systems from the Federal Estate Tax system. As such, we recommend that anyone who currently lives in Maine or Massachusetts that has a estate plan with a Revocable Living Trust that was signed before January of 2003 should consult an estate planning attorney as soon as possible to discuss the impact of these state estate tax law changes and what changes, if any, should be made to their Revocable Trusts at this time. Specifically and most urgent, we recommend for those clients who currently live in Maine or Massachusetts that have an estate plan with A-B Revocable Living Trusts containing estate tax planning provisions that were signed before January of 2003, that they should consult an estate planning attorney as soon as possible to amend their A-B Trusts to eliminate the state estate tax that will otherwise likely be due upon the death of the first spouse to die if their A-B Trusts are left as is and not amended to address these new tax law changes. Please contact us at your earliest convenience to discuss any of these important matters or if we may be of assistance to you in any way.