Even with the reduction in capital gains taxes and the possibility of a permanent repeal of the estate tax, wealthy individuals are showing increased interest in charitable giving. This new wave of donors typically wants to retain some say-so over...
A wealth planning professional would have had to be living on Mars not to know that Internal Revenue Code Section 7520 rates dipped to historic lows in the summer of 20032 and stayed low through 2004. How low did the rates go? The average Section...
Trusts & Estates was started in 1904 as a periodical called Trust Companies in response to the rise of the trust banking industry in the United States. Most of the 1,300 trust companies then in existence had been formed in the previous 25 years...
Although the trust comes with a long historical pedigree, it has undergone a radical transformation in the past century. The core function of the trust has changed, giving rise both to the modern trust industry and to a profoundly altered legal...
On May 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit delivered good news to estate planners with its long-awaited holding in Kimbell v. U.S.1 The court cut back on the Tax Court's Strangi II2 decision. Of course, Kimbell applies directly...
From Mark Twain's final days in Redding, Conn. to Marlon Brando's last tango in Los Angeles, wills drafted by the rich and famous testify to the dramatic changes in American culture during the past 100 years. Evidence of respect for women...
There's a debate raging this election year over whether America is in the throes of a new Gilded Age, with the nation's riches increasingly concentrated among a tiny elite, leaving the rest of the population financially and politically...
It's no secret that sales assistants are the administrative linchpins of many a brokerage office, but never before has their role been so crucial to the smooth operation of their practices.
Talk about paying to play. Three registered investment advisors were accused by the SEC of accepting cash payments from TD Waterhouse in return for putting client assets with Waterhouse. The SEC announced in late September that it had fined TD...
