“Family business succession planning is the cornerstone of any successful family business owner’s estate plan. As is often the case, however, planning for the inter-generational transfer of ownership and control of the business becomes complicated by the intra-generational conflicts of the business owner’s heirs. These onflicts among members of the second generation, if severe enough, can render the […]
I’ve been attending a continuing education webinar on drafting trusts. Very interesting. There is so much you can do with trusts, so many avenues to make sure your wishes are carried out when you’re no longer with us or become incapacitated. Among other things, as with a will, you can make specific distributions to specified […]
As anyone who’s read my profile knows, I once wrote for Bloomberg–for three Bloomberg magazines, in fact. One of them was Bloomberg Wealth Manager, which was later sold and then sold again. I continued to write for the magazine in all its iterations. The other day, I stumbled upon a list of some of my […]
I’ve just finished reading the Estate of Purdue case, a tax court case decided in December. The case is interesting as an introduction to sophisticated tax planning strategies–FLLC, trusts, and all that. However, the real lesson from this case–and others like it–is that facts matter to courts. In this case, the IRS was contending that […]
That happened in the Estate of Purdue case decided on December 28, 2015–less than three months ago. And you can read a brief summary of why in the instructively titled article Attention to How Your Farm Business is Organized Pays Off for the Heirs at Tax Time. Bottom line, a family limited liability company formed with […]
Under current gift and estate tax law, if you pay a gift or estate tax, it will be at a flat rate of 40%. Forty percent. But most people will never pay that rate, or any rate at all, because their estates are not large enough and what estate or gift taxes they could have […]
There’s a misconception out there that if you use a revocable living trust in your estate planning, you avoid probate and save on all those costs associated with probate. Well, maybe and maybe not. First, in order to avoid probate, virtually everything you own has to be owned in a way that will do just […]
I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35
I listened to an interesting seminar yesterday titled “Estate Planning in Agriculture: Protecting a Way of Life” sponsored by WealthCounsel.com. Stan Miller and Robert Serio were the presenters. Serio covered the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Subsidy Programs and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Programs. He cautioned attorneys to be careful to not to do […]
A very interesting article about water at ProPublica.org. Essentially, the pieces asks whether Wall Street–the good guys on Wall Street, of course–will help us achieve this: [Hedge Fund manager] Disque Deane . . . supports the idea of setting aside what policy makers call “lifeline supplies” to guarantee households some minimal amount of water. […]