Illinois’ high court allows a tort claim where a probate contest is time-barred. The case involves a pastor’s cozy relationship with his elderly parishioner. She wound up giving him lifetime gifts, then a bequest—all of which...
UBS’ Wealth Management Americas unit today unveiled a new compensation program that will reward the firm's biggest financial advisors for loyalty and growth. That’s a departure from other brokerages where compensation is typically...
Beneficiaries' withdrawal right does not interfere with grantor trust status In Private Letter Ruling 200942020 (Oct. 16, 2009), a trust agreement created four subtrusts: each trust is for one of four children, that child's spouse and that child's...
The taxpayer victory in the Christiansen appeal is a gift for charities because it effectively throws open the door to charitable lid planning. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has given charities, taxpayers and estate planners...
Estate tax regulations permit executors to elect to use an alternate valuation method when it would result in a decrease in the value of the estate. This election, contained in Internal Revenue Code Section 2032, permits property included in the...
Wells Fargo Advisors FAs are in a house of pain. Indeed, one of its predecessor companies, Wachovia Securities, has been near the bottom of the heap in our Broker Report Card satisfaction survey for the last five years. This year was no different...
We've been polling wirehouse financial advisors about how satisfied they are with their firms for 19 years now. And, this year, I was struck by how ambivalent FAs at the big firms are. On the one hand, FAs at the remaining big five national brands...
