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Special needs trusts (SNTs) trusts created for the benefit of a disabled beneficiary present exciting opportunities for corporate fiduciaries. They also risk sapping fiduciaries' time and emotional energy. Sometimes, the wisest choice is for a...
With just two revenue rulings, the Internal Revenue Service established the 5 percent exhaustion rule, which essentially says that if there is a more than 5 percent possibility that a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT) will run out of...
From David A. Handler of Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago we have this report on the latest development in the Tax Court's understanding of the Internal Revenue Code Section 2036(a): On March 15, the court issued a decision in Estate of Wayne C...
Planners have a challenge: They must find sophisticated, highly tax-efficient techniques that weave family values into financial plans but don't land clients in audit hell. Enter the health and education exclusion trust (HEET). This type of trust...
According to a recent AARP survey of baby boomers, four out of five members of that generation plan on working after they retire from their jobs. Some will do so out of necessity to make up a shortfall in savings, for instance, or to patch...
The 2001 tax reform act built uncertainty into the estate-planning process. Under the act, estate tax rates decrease until 2009. The estate tax disappears for one year in 2010. In 2011, the rates and exemptions revert to 2001 levels. Adding to the...
For years, many opponents have seen the notion of Social Security privatization as a thinly veiled make-work project for Wall Street. Trillions of dollars, they said, would flow into stocks and mutual funds, producing a huge windfall for...
Investors are happy to think about retiring but are reluctant to contemplate what comes next. Such are the separate findings from surveys from AXA Financial and PNC Advisors. The AXA study showed that Americans are more confident about their...
Business people of a certain age probably can remember a plaque that secretaries everywhere once displayed with pride: Poor planning on your part does not constitute an automatic emergency on my part. It's a saying financial advisors should...