Thanks to the Internal Revenue Service for its help to the estate-planning and charitable-giving community, by publishing sample charitable lead annuity trusts (CLATs). This is a welcome benefit for us, because unlike charitable remainder trusts ...
A partial interest in property left by a decedent to a surviving spouse, such as an income interest, can lead to a credit for tax on prior transfer (CTPT) in the estate of the surviving spouse. Understanding the role that partial interests play in...
During Leona Helmsley's lifetime, the real estate mogul and hotel magnate was reviled for allegedly saying only the little people pay taxes, then going to jail for failing to do so, much to the glee of the New York tabloids. After Leona's death...
New York's Lincoln Center, about to engage in a costly renovation of its symphony space, is refusing to assure the family of Avery Fisher that the auditorium will continue to bear Fisher's name despite the fact that Fisher donated $10.5 million in...
David T. Leibell and Daniel L. Daniels, partners in the Stamford, Conn., office of Cummings & Lockwood LLC, report: Private Letter Ruling 200733007 (issued Aug. 17, 2007) provides a road map on how to establish a qualified testamentary charitable...
To stop donors from abusing charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) by taking deductions when charities couldn't actually expect to receive anything, the Internal Revenue Service created both the 5 percent exhaustion and the 10 percent remainder rules...
The curious thing about a bubble is, when it bursts, you can't believe people actually behaved the way they did. (Remember, in the late 1990s, backing up the truck and buying the QQQQ for clients? Nah, not you.) Consider what a sweet temptation...
Knowing the best strategy to recommend to families in every financial situation requires either an encyclopedic knowledge of tax, investment, and legal matters or a crystal ball. The former can take decades to accumulate, and the latter is even...
The countdown to dooms—uhh, the deadline for complying with repeal of the broker/dealer rule is creeping onward with less than 10 days left. Since the court ruling in March, some of Wall Street’s largest firms have been grappling to...
It sure is a great time to be an advisor to the fabulously wealthy. There are so many of them. Consider this: since 1995, the number of millionaire households in the United States has more than doubled. "Never before had so many Americans become...