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Older Couples and Divorce
Payment of estate tax is the greatest economic loss faced by elderly couples who divorce. While married, each spouse may leave all or any portion of his or her estate to the surviving spouse, either in trust or outright, free of all estate and gift tax. This marital deduction, coupled with the applicable exclusion amount and prudent estate planning, saves a married couple a substantial amount of federal estate tax, and in some instances all estate tax, allowing more accumulated wealth to pass to their children and grandchildren.
An estate tax is imposed on everything an individual owns on the date of death. The federal estate tax rates for 2007, 2008 and 2009 are 46% of the decedent's taxable estate above the applicable exclusion (a sum of assets each individual can transfer upon death, estate-tax free), of $2 million (2007 and 2008) and $3.5 million (2009). The current law, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA), provides for repeal of the estate tax in 2010. Commencing Jan. 1, 2011 and thereafter, estate tax rates will revert to the pre-2001 rates of 41% to 50% of the decedent's taxable estate above the applicable exclusion of $1 million. It is anticipated that Congress will pass a bill prior to Jan. 1, 2011 and at least increase the applicable exclusion to the 2009 amount of $3.5 million.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
'Insurable Interest' and the Scope of First-Party Coverage
This article reviews the fundamental underpinnings of the concept of insurable interest, and certain recent cases that have grappled with the scope of insurable interest and have articulated a more meaningful application of the concept to claims under first-party property policies.