News

The typical participants in an estate-planning team include the attorney, certified public accountant (CPA), insurance consultant and wealth manager. The optimal approach is a team effort that coordinates all advisors. But many families need more...

What do you do if your client is suffering from diminished capacity? There are no bright line rules an attorney can rely on

IRS issues new proposed regulations regarding alternate valuation date The Internal Revenue Service has published new proposed Treasury regulations under Internal Revenue Code Section 2032 (REG-112196-07, 76 Fed. Reg. 71491 (Nov. 18, 2011)). Under...

Appeals court reverses $5 million surcharge against trustee of revocable trust A settlor established a revocable trust with his son as trustee, along with a pour-over will. Thereafter, the settlor invested $4 million in his son's company in...

When attorneys draft trust documents, it's important to include maximum flexibility mechanisms to better respond to future tax, societal and beneficiary changes. Despite our clients' and our belief in crystal ball prognosis, these situations...

When establishing a new private foundation, one of the toughest questions the founders should answer is, Who will run the foundation after we're gone? Perhaps because it's a difficult question, some founders decide to defer the answer sometimes...

Ultra high-net-worth entertainers, film and television personalities and professional athletes (celebrities) require specialized estate and asset protection planning. In the past year, the media has been inundated with stories about the commercial...

Much has been written about modern multi-participant trust governance structures (sometimes called open-architecture trust designs) and evolving principles of state trust law related to directed trusts.1 The directed trust model threatens to...

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Women control an increasingly large portion of private wealth. That’s good news for advisors who understand the subtle differences in how men and women communicate.