As the baby boomers reach retirement age, more family businesses are faced with the issue of succession planning. The days of passing the family business from parent to child are long gone. While many retiring business owners would like to...

Selling a family business is typically complicated and fraught with emotional issues for the owner. The owner is selling his means of livelihood, and more the composition of his net worth, which will migrate from business earnings to a portfolio...

Health, Education, Maintenance and Support: the four chosen words that make up the ascertainable standard. Sometimes abbreviated as HEMS, the ascertainable standard is undeniably a creature of tax law,1 though it must also operate in the realm of...

On Dec. 17, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the Act). The Act significantly impacts the estate planning that advisors will recommend to their clients, as...

In my early years of practice (almost 30 years ago), I was fortunate to represent an outstanding young couple, Jack and Mary. When we first met, they had been married about seven years and had five young children. Jack was an unusually talented...

For those of us in the business of providing client services, success is heavily dependent on our ability to offer the most comprehensive, cutting-edge information available. No matter how good we may be individually, we can always be better by...

Women do, in fact, want their mates to make money.