Blog Profile / Estate of Confusion
| URL : | http://blogs.forbes.com/hanisarji/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Business & Finance | |
| Posts on Regator: | 47 | |
| Posts / Week: | 0.4 | |
| Archived Since: | March 1, 2011 | |
Blog Post Archive
More Estate Tax Changes Could Follow Fiscal Cliff Deal
News bites might leave you hungry for details about the estate tax and the other wealth transfer taxes. This post aims to answer your questions and serve as a useful resource.
California Joins Majority Of States In Recognizing Tort — Intentional Interference With Expected Inheritance
In Beckwith v. Dahl (May 3, 2012), the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, joined the majority of states in recognizing the tort of intentional interference with expected inheritance (IIEI). “[I]t is time to officially recognize this tort claim,” writes Justice Kathleen O’Leary in the Court’s option. The Court of Appeals adopted IIEI based [...]
Tennessee Woos Wealthy Retirees By Repealing Inheritance And Gift Taxes
States are competing for wealthy retirees and are enticing them with tax breaks. Last month, Tennessee lawmakers cut taxes to keep wealthy retirees in the state and to woo others. In separate bills, Tennessee lawmakers made significant changes to Tennessee’s gift and estate taxes. They phased out the estate tax over four years. They repealed [...]
Stephen King’s Latest Beast Attacks Conservatives
Stephen King created a new bad guy: himself. The victims are conservatives. King wrote a post in the Daily Beast on Monday that appears to make one point, but makes many more. At its core, King’s post echoes an argument made by other wealthy people, including Warren Buffet: the wealthy should pay higher taxes. As King [...]
Declining Health Is Scary: Estate And Financial Planning Can Protect You
When your health starts to decline, you start to lose control and certainty. Having a comprehensive estate and financial plan in place can give you some control and certainty. Over 120 million Americans are living with a chronic illness, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, COPD, Parkinson’s Disease, or Multiple Sclerosis. If you are one of these [...]
Estate And Financial Planning For People Living With Multiple Sclerosis
People living with multiple sclerosis can have estate and financial plans that are customized for their illness. This was not always the case. When Patti was diagnosed with MS in 2006, her life changed. But her estate and financial plans did not reflect these changes. In fact, when Patti’s husband, Martin, searched for ways to [...]
Bumpy Road Ahead For Estate Planners
The estate planning profession is headed toward a “new normal,” informs an ad for a webinar for estate planners, and estate planners should “register now” to get the “tools” they “need to thrive in the new normal.” The webinar is titled, Bumpy Road Ahead to the New Normal: Are You Ready for the Challenge? It [...]
Steve Jobs Dies In Year With 35% Estate Tax
Various news sources are reporting that the brilliant, awe-inspiring billionaire, the co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs has passed. There still are no reports of his estate plan, but one can safely presume that it was well thought out. There have been some articles criticizing Jobs’ supposed lack of charitable giving. Now we should be able to [...]
Kinder, Gentler IRS Provides Deadline Relief For 2010 Heirs
On September 13, 2011, the IRS released Notice 2011-76, which gives executors of estates of 2010 decedents more time to make an informed decision about whether to stay in the default estate tax regime for 2010 or opt out of the estate tax entirely. The estate tax was repealed for most of 2010. But on [...]
IRS Makes Bereaved Families Wait, Then Hurry Up
On September 8, 2011, the IRS released the long-awaited estate tax return and instructions for 2010 decedents: Form 706 & Instructions for Form 706. Due date Generally, executors must file Form 706 within 9 months after a person dies. But for people who died between January 1, 2010 and December 16, 2010, Form 706 is [...]
Forbes Adds Award-Winning Journalist As Senior Editor
Forbes recently added Deborah L. Jacobs as senior editor of the investing channel. Jacobs is a lawyer; an award-winning journalist; an author of the best-selling book, Estate Planning Smarts: A Practical, User-Friendly Action-Oriented Guide; an entrepreneur; a mother; a wife; and a baby boomer. We are fortunate to have Jacobs as senior editor because Jacobs’ [...]
Tax Deadlines For 2010 Deaths? IRS Finally Issues Guidance
On August 5, 2011, the IRS published long-awaited guidance for executors of estates of people who died in 2010. Notice 2011-66 explains how these executors can opt out of the estate tax, and Revenue Procedure 2011-41 explains the special tax rules that apply to assets when executors opt out of the estate tax. The estate [...]
How To Cut State Death Taxes — Without Moving
Currently, the District of Columbia and 22 states impose a state death tax. Taxpayers in these state have an opportunity to reduce and even avoid state death taxes by making gifts while they are alive. Many believe that the only way they can avoid state death taxes is by moving to a state that has [...]
Let Freedom Ring With Gift Of Firearms
My previous post highlights how Americans are generous, despite a challenging economy. An earlier post mentioned that donating firearms could help the donor, the donor’s family, the charitable organization, and all Americans who get a chance to appreciate and learn about historic treasures. A recent article bridges these ideas by showing that donating a firearm [...]
Americans Are Generous, Despite Economy
A recent report highlights the generosity of Americans. Giving USA 2011: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2010 finds that Americans contributed about 2 percent of disposable income in 2010. The executive summary of the report states that “[i]n the midst of economic data that seems to be negative, we think we have [...]
The Most Important Historical Gun In History Of United States
I have been researching estate planning for firearms, and I came across a video that is worth sharing today, a day on which we celebrate the United States and reflect on its history. The video is about the Girandoni air rifle, which is on loan to the National Firearms Museum. With over 2 million views, [...]
A GRAT Opportunity: Taking Advantage Of Low July 2011 AFRs
The IRS published the applicable federal rates for July 2011 in Rev. Rul. 2011-14: Section 7520 Interest Rate: 2.4% Applicable Federal Mid-term, Annual Rate: 2.00% The Section 7520 Interest Rate will be slightly lower in July. It is currently 2.8% and will be 2.4% in July. The AFR Mid-term, Annual Rate will also be slightly lower in July. [...]
Ten Common Estate Planning Mistakes (Free Webinar)
Deborah L. Jacobs has another outstanding webinar scheduled for tomorrow, June 16, 2011 from 2:00 to 3:00 PM EDT. Here are the details: Ten Estate Planning Mistakes I Hear About Most Often Speaker: Deborah Jacobs As a journalist writing about estate planning, I like to combine real life stories with practical advice. And that means [...]
The Bush Tax Cuts On Their Tenth Anniversary: A Cause Célèbre
June 7th marked the 10th anniversary of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA). Critics of the Bush tax cuts used the anniversary of EGTRRA to call for higher taxes on the wealthy. EGTRRA was the landmark tax legislation that President George W. Bush signed into law. It cut taxes by [...]
IRS Releases Applicable Federal Rates For June 2011
The IRS published the applicable federal rates for June 2011 in Rev. Rul. 2011-13: Section 7520 Interest Rate: 2.8% Applicable Federal Mid-term, Annual Rate: 2.27% The Section 7520 Interest Rate is slightly lower in June than it was for May. It is 2.8% in June but was 3% in May. The AFR Mid-term, Annual Rate is also slightly lower [...]