“Per capita” and “per stirpes” aren’t just Latin phrases estate planning attorneys use to try to look smart. They can produce very different results for the flow of family assets. Understanding the difference between the two approaches in an estate plan, and choosing the right one for your family’s situation, can avoid unpleasant and expensive […]
I am excited to share the news that I am joining PNC Wealth Management on December 28, 2010 as a Senior Wealth Planner in their Louisville office. My colleagues at PNC will include Chris Staples, Jim Turner, and Melanie McCoy, who are well known in Kentucky’s T&E Community. PNC’s Wealth Planning Group is led by […]
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 […]
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 […]
As we approach the Congressional midterm elections (still with no action on the estate tax), one often hears opinions in certain quarters that the government isn’t efficient. Studiously expressing no opinion about these claims generally, KYEstates is pleased to report that they’re untrue in at least one respect: the IRS has become very efficient at […]
At KYEstates, we’re happiest reporting on taxpayer victories, but if we have to report a loss, it mitigates our disappointment when the case is interesting. Anschutz v. Comm’r, 135 T.C. No. 5 (July 22, 2010), is that sort of case: an interesting taxpayer loss. In this instance, a very expensive taxpayer loss (likely exceeding $21 […]
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 […]
On the estate tax front, it’s been a Macbeth/Faulkner fortnight in Congress – full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Meanwhile, however, the clock is also ticking on expiration of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, potentially affecting many private clients and business owners. To that end, readers may be quite interested in the […]
Although normal activity in much of Louisville seems to be temporarily suspended this weekend due to one of the most impressive logistical enterprises since the Berlin Airlift, the children’s swimming City Meet, the T&E Community still needs tax updates, and KYEstates is happy to share this report on Matthies v. Comm’r, 134 T.C. No. 6 (Feb. 22, 2010). In Matthies, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]