By now, advisors have been bombarded with talk of “going independent.” It's a phrase that is regularly circulated in the hallways and offices of wirehouses and regional broker/dealers, and in the exhibit halls of major industry conferences. The...
David T. Leibell and Daniel L. Daniels, who've just changed firms and now are partners at Wiggin and Dana LLP, in Stamford, Conn., have this report: Finally, the Internal Revenue Service has seen a charitable life insurance strategy that it likes...
Often, trusts established by non-U.S. citizen decedents under their U.S. wills or revocable trusts to care for minor children become foreign trusts by accident. This triggers significant tax and reporting consequences. But there are solutions. It...
Grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) have long been a darling of estate planners. Properly designed, they can transfer future growth in value to family beneficiaries free of gift tax risk. Recently proposed Internal Revenue Service regulations...
Community property (CP), a 50-50 form of marital property ownership, is the law in nine states and is available by election in one.1 About 30 percent of the U.S. population calls these states home, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates...
Increasingly, many clients are spending time outside their home countries. Maybe it's to get a start-up off the ground. Maybe it's to retire. Some are looking for better security than in their home countries or just a change of scenery. Whatever...
David A. Handler, partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, reports that on Sept. 23, 2007, the Treasury Department issued proposed amendments to Circular 230 that essentially say, Yes, this applies to you. And your advice better meet...
The subprime debt market blowup has had very different effects on Wall Street firms Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. Goldman earnings shined in the third quarter, and Merrill earnings stunk. But according to news reports
Christiane Delessert, an advisor with National Financial Partners in Waltham, Mass., was thinking about retiring. But like many reps, she didn't have a succession plan in place to get there. With $420 million in assets under management, over 100...
Recruiting in the independent broker/dealer business has reached a fever pitch. The signs are everywhere. Just take Raymond James, where the number of advisors recruited so far this year is already about 80 percent ahead of where it was last year...
