The torch and pitchfork brigade rose in force to confiscate the earnings of the AIG employees responsible AIG bonuses are outrageous—but taxing them is just plain stupid. Will somebody please start making sense?

Congress gears up to just say ‘No’ to Obama’s plan to reduce the deductions that the wealthy get for giving to charity

Court refuses to let a personal representative wiggle out of paying for his improper conduct by declaring bankruptcy. In Kurzon, 399 B.R. 274 (Bankr.M.D.Fla. April 17, 2008), a Florida judge held that the former personal representative may not...

I guess it wins votes: Exploiting the outrage a populace who loves to hate failed Wall Street fat cats. But the vicious moralizing is revealing. What it says about politicians is actually very scary indeed. In case you had any doubts about the...

Most estate-planning attorneys come across clients who want to attach some sort of condition on gifts they make to descendants and other beneficiaries. And most estate-planning lawyers know that conditions creating restraints against marriage...

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., gave insurance lobbying groups something to argue about yesterday. In a press conference about financial regulatory reform, Frank said he wants lawmakers to create an optional...

Transfers of art to a foreign trust qualify for estate and gift tax deductions. In Private Letter Ruling 200901023 (Sept. 29, 2008), the Internal Revenue Service held that a wife's lifetime and testamentary transfers to a foreign trust to manage...

Transfers of art to a foreign trust qualify for estate and gift tax deductions. In Private Letter Ruling 200901023 (Sept. 29, 2008), the Internal Revenue Service held that a wife's lifetime and testamentary transfers to a foreign trust to manage...

International giving has been one of the fastest growing sectors in U.S. philanthropy in the past few years. We expect planners will continue to see wealthy clients interested in giving abroad despite the current global financial crisis and...

Your client spent a lifetime building his company and, now that he's ready to sell, the United States is in the middle of the worst recession in decades. What do you tell him? Of course, the first thing you say is: it might be a terrible time to...