The implications of a case handed two years ago have not been adequately appreciated by practitioners. The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Oct. 16, 2002, affirmed a decision of the Tax Court denying an estate tax deduction for a...

Although he played Superman on the silver screen, it was after Christopher Reeve broke his neck and became paralyzed in 1995 at age 42 in a horseback riding accident, that he became a symbol of courage and hope to the world. Against the odds...

This letter is in reaction to the article A Threat to All SNTs by Mark Merrick and Douglas W. Stein, which appeared in Trusts & Estates' November 2004 issue. The thrust of their article is that the passage of the Uniform Trust Code will cripple...

Of course, no one knows for sure what will happen to the federal estate tax. And it may happen, because of surprising developments this December in the Senate, that the repeal will actually take place. Sixty Senators now seem to be saying they'll...

Internal Revenue Code Section 2036(a)(2) includes in a decedent's gross estate the value of transferred property (except in the case of a bona fide sale for full and adequate consideration) in which a decedent has retained the right, either alone...

The traditional family ain't what it used to be. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there has been a sevenfold increase in the number of unmarried households in the United States over the past 30 years, including an estimated 14 million gay and...

Quick: Which advisor is more likely to win the inherited assets: The one who established the estate plan that channeled a client's money to the next generation, saving his heirs a fortune in estate taxes? Or the one whose actions consisted of...

With more advisors chasing high-net-worth clients, family offices have officially entered buyer's market territory, which is bad news for those who dislike tending to the nonfinancial demands of ultrawealthy clients. One of the earmarks of a...

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...

This column lives up to its tag only insofar as it addresses a frequent shortcoming in advisors of my age group. I'm talking about putting the Web to good use in a financial advisory practice. For all the search engine technology out there, the...