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Trust Crusader Warns Congressional Deadlock Is Killing Estate Planning
Top estate planning blogger Gerry Beyer says the lack of long-term clarity makes it impossible for professionals to do their job. Texas Tech law professor Gerry Beyer is one of the best-connected...
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Estate Planning: May a Trustee Follow a Living Settlor’s Bad Instructions?
When an individual or a couple, as settlors, establishes a revocable living trust they are usually the initial trustees and beneficiaries. This gives them complete control to do as they please with...
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Post-Cliff Tax Avoidance Becomes New Priority for Wealthy Americans
Tax-sensitive estate planning actually more important than ever as advisors and their clients wake up to the transience of Washington’s post-cliff promises. Asset protection, other concerns take their...
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Five Celebrity Estate Planning Mistakes
Bankrate.com article by Sheyna Steiner To riff off the lyrics of a song by the late Notorious B.I.G.: more money, more problems. While that’s certainly true in life, the problems compound after death...
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How to Avoid an Estate Battle After You Die
NYT article by Paul Sullivan It might seem that a woman who died at 104 after spending 20 years in a hospital despite being healthy enough to live in one of her three stately homes, accumulated a vast...
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Top Themes of 2013: Trust Advisor Readers Sound Off
The fourth quarter of 2013 is ramping up and the fourth year of the Trust Advisor is winding down. Your reading habits reveal what really obsesses the industry these days — and what secretly leaves...
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Estate Plans Shift Focus to Income Taxes
WSJ Wealth Advisor article by Arden Dale The new tax rules for 2013 are turning estate planning on its head: Instead of an emphasis on avoiding the estate tax, many plans now have a focus on trimming...
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Is JP Morgan Really Starving Doris Duke’s Billion-Dollar Legacy?
The tobacco heiress’s relatives are begging for relief while her beloved gardens have been belittled as “conspicuous consumption.” But the trustees may not be the villains here. Doris in her prime; the...
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Unwinding Estate Tax Trusts Gets Tricky
WSJ Wealth Advisor article by Arden Dale Unraveling trusts is a tricky business, and a bigger one right now for estate planners. Many estates are exempt from federal tax under rules that went into...
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The Big Estate-Planning Goof You May Be Making
Forbes Next Avenue article by Harper Willis You may have made a giant estate planning mistake without even knowing it — forgetting to update the names of your beneficiaries for your employer-sponsored...
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Billionaire Harold Simmons Dies, Leaving Legendary “Broken” Trusts Behind
Acting as own trustee cost the corporate raider turned Republican activist at least $100 million and two of his four daughters. How will his charitable foundation survive without him? Harold Simmons...
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Dangers to Avoid When Estate Planning
By Gerry W. Beyer Estate plans can become more complicated over time. Here are some inconsistencies that tend to bedevil estate plans: •Power of attorney. Naming an agent to handle financial and...
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Why Estate Planning Is the Best Practice Area
By Gerry W. Beyer With the right systems, support, and tools in place, estate planning can truly be the best practice area for most lawyers. Here are four reasons why: Estate planning is...
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An Estate Plan to Protect an Art Collection
WSJ Wealth Adviser article by Austin Kilham The client’s collection of Asian art represented 50 years of travel and collecting with her late husband. At 80 years old, she wanted to figure out the best...
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Oscar Winners Teach Five Lessons On Estate Planning
Forbes article by Danielle and Andy Mayoras It’s time for the 2014 Oscars! While we at Trial & Heirs won’t make any Oscar predictions, we can look back at past Oscar winners like Philip Seymour...
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Women and Estate Planning: Universal or Unique Challenges?
MarketWatch article by Andrea Coombes Got a plan? Whether you’re single or married, divorced or widowed, a parent or not, you need an estate plan. That’s true for men and women, but women face...
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Estate Planning, Family Isn’t Always First
NYT article by Caitlin Kelly Whether it’s treasured pearl earrings or a vintage camera, a house or what’s left of your life savings, deciding who should inherit your worldly goods means making...
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Estate Planning For the Young, Rich and Childless
Reuters news by Beth Pinsker For many single or childless individuals, the question of how to distribute their worldly wealth after they die is wide-open and complicated. A charity? Alma mater?...
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CNN’s Anderson Cooper Disinherited from $200 Million Vanderbilt Estate
No trust fund for the TV news icon raises questions that everyone should be asking: how much does 90-year-old Gloria actually have left and where will it actually go? Vanderbilt and Anderson seem...
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Lou Reed Walked On The Wild Side With His Estate Planning
Forbes article by Danielle and Andy Mayoras Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, Lou Reed was the man who famously crooned, “Hey babe, talk a walk on the wild side.” The late lead singer and...
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