General Estate Planning

One Small Latin Phrase Can Turn Your Heirs Into Mad Men (and Women)

Mad Men Season 4 has ended, and we’re all trying to evaluate whether or not Megan is a good idea. That’s the truly significant question, but it’s a long time until Season 5 begins, which means that the T&E Community needs to get back to business as usual, even on a Sunday night like this [...]

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Using Political Futures Markets to Forecast Your Estate Tax Exemption

You can tell your readers care about you when for four weeks you don’t post, and they begin to inquire after your health. Thank you, and your publisher is pleased to report that he is alive and very well! This has been a very busy month. No one seems to have gotten the memo that [...]

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The Tax Man Likes Home Additions, But Not Tear-Downs

Anyone who has been following Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings is up to speed on the judicial activism/strict construction debate. Strict construction of an exclusion from taxable income powered a notable win for the IRS in Gates v. Comm’r, 135 T.C. 1 (July 1, 2010), a very interesting income tax case that will have implications for private [...]

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Breaking News – $5m Exemption and 35% Rate Sought As Amendment to Small Business Jobs Bill

It may be a lazy summer day in the Eastern United States, but not on the transfer tax news front. The Hill reports here and Pat Lynch’s blog reports here that Senators Kyl and Lincoln introduced legislation late on Tuesday, July 13 that would require the Senate Finance Committee to amend to amend H.R. 5297 [...]

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The War on Terror and Charitable Giving

It is not often that the GWOT affects the world of T&E law, but  the Supreme Court’s June 21 6-3 opinion in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, 561 U.S. ____ (2010) is an exception to the general rule. The opinion upheld the Patriot Act provision providing for fines and up to 15 years’ imprisonment for persons [...]

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Your Single-Member LLC: Not A Mighty Fortress

The tar balls are hitting Florida’s beaches, but the state’s courts aren’t yet clogged with oil spill litigation.  With some time on its hands, the Florida Supreme Court is still able to issue advisory opinions, including its June 24 decision in Olmstead v. Federal Trade Commission, 2010 WL 2518106 (Fla. 2010).  Olmstead may not be as important [...]

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In re Woods – a Cautionary Tale for Kentucky Lenders

Although litigation is society’s mirror, it’s a mirror that reflects only with a certain lag time. Now that we are three years into the housing bust, and over two years into the Great Recession, the published case law is finally beginning to suggest that yes, we have had a credit crisis. That’s not surprising. Today’s [...]

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Your Offshore Retirement “Plan B”

KYEstates’ prior retirement planning coverage has explored options for a $6 million asset base.  With this post, we’re pleased to make our coverage applicable to a wider audience, and encourage readers not to worry quite as much about their own situations, even if they see this post on a bad day for the stock market. [...]

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Update: Forecasting the Fate of the Estate Tax

KYEstates readers, thanks for your patience. Yes, post volume has been down. That’s not because the transfer tax world has suddenly become boring – perish the thought. Rather, it’s been an extraordinarily busy month. First, your publisher visited his brother in Brooklyn and then went to his 10th Reunion. That was a little tough, because [...]

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A Hurricane May Hit This House in the Keys, But Creditors Won’t…

KYEstates often dicusses asset protection developments, and we’re pleased to share a really fascinating Florida decision, Miller v. Kresser, — So.3d —, 2010 WL1779899 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010). Juan Antunez broke the news that this is surely a season of May flowers for asset protection planning. There won’t often be victories for pure judicial formalism [...]

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