As I write this, the House and Senate are rushing to pass what’s become known as “The Big Beautiful Bill.” There’s resistance to even a Senate reading of the nearly 1,000-page piece of legislation. The richest get thousands of dollars in tax breaks, the poor will lose over $1,500 each, and the bill increases the budget deficit by trillions of dollars. But there are solutions.

When Republicans finally took control of the Alabama Legislature in 2010, they put a conservative stamp on Alabama’s legislative process and lawmaking. They have made sure that Alabamians, and for that matter the rest of the country, know that Alabama is a ruby red Republican state, both socially and fiscally.

Question: My mother just recently passed away, my father having passed before her. They had a living trust set up in 2018. That made it easy for her house to go to my brother and myself. But she also had some stocks which are not mentioned in the trust. My brother and I are trying to get them from her financial advisor whose firm managed them. They are dividing them 50/50 and are creating separate brokerage accounts for my brother and me. If we decide to cash them out, what are the fees and what tax we would be facing?

Question: I'm 94 years of age and own a home in Massachusetts. When I pass, will my heirs be able to take the $250,000 federal capital gains deduction that I would have been entitled to if I sold the house? Does this differ from state to state?

Question: If I place my home in an irrevocable trust with my children as beneficiaries what is the tax upon my death?