American society has long been defined by an intricate and unique combination of the roles of government, business and the non-profit sector. Other cultures exist with most, if not all, of their society's needs met by business and government...

Life insurance is unique among types of insurance in that it insures against an event (death) that will occur as opposed to an event that may occur. But, although death is a certainty, individuals buy life insurance to hedge against the time when...

In 2010, the legislature, Internal Revenue Service and courts were busy dealing with retirement benefit issues. Congress expanded designated Roth accounts (DRACs) to church and governmental plans and gave employees who participate in elective...

Charitable lead annuity trusts (CLATs) have received considerable attention recently, in light of current low interest rates. If structured correctly, CLATs have the twin benefits of (1) providing payments to charity for a number of years, and (2)...

Like you, I always knew non-tax issues in estate planning were important. But I never realized how important. With the chaos in 2010 on the tax side of estate planning and the virtual inability to offer certainty, coupled with the high cost of...

Rumors of the demise of the small family office have been greatly exaggerated. Although many wealthy families have changed the way their offices operate, smaller single family offices are demonstrating remarkable resilience in the face of economic...