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Estate Planning for Unmarried Couples
More couples than ever are choosing to live together without benefit of marriage. Some simply reject the institution. Some are same-sex partners who cannot marry in New York or most other states. Others have been married previously and do not wish to jeopardize their separate governmental entitlements or to create marital rights that might conflict with their ability to control their separate property.
In light of the growing number of committed unmarried couples and the mounting questions over which, if any, “benefits of marriage” should be made available to them, a re-ex-amination of basic estate planning principles under existing law would seem timely, if not overdue. In particular, from the planner's perspective, it is relevant to contrast the pitfalls and opportunities that are currently presented.
The benefits of marriage in the estate planning context are obvious — most notably the availability of the marital deduction. Because federal tax policy promotes marriage by conferring tax benefits to those who are married, estate planners have for years tried to leverage the many income and transfer tax benefits accorded to married partners. As a consequence, attention, particularly at the federal level, to closing tax loopholes and curtailing practices considered “abusive” that are available to couples has been primarily focused upon limiting estate planning techniques that take advantage of tax benefits accorded to married couples only. It should therefore not be surprising to discover that while there are some planning techniques that are still available only to married partners, others are available only to unmarried partners.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Anti-Assignment Override Provisions
UCC Sections 9406(d) and 9408(a) are one of the most powerful, yet least understood, sections of the Uniform Commercial Code. On their face, they appear to override anti-assignment provisions in agreements that would limit the grant of a security interest. But do these sections really work?