The question of the rights of inheritance of adopted persons has a long history in this Commonwealth. Until 1855, adoption needed the approval of the state legislature. Then the legislature got out of the adoption business, moving it to the judicial system. The Wills Acts of 1855, 1887, 1889 and 1911 all stated that adopted
Don’t Touch That Dial(ysis)
2010 is the year with no federal estate tax. George Steinbrenner died in July 2010. His family will be saving about $500 million in estate tax and won’t have to sell the Yankees to pay the tax. Forbes says 5 billionaires died so far in 2010, and the tax their estates would have owed totals
Pennsylvania Legislature Passes Trusts and Estates Legislation
Soon we will have some much needed changes to Pennsylvania’s Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code which will clarify rights of inheritance when a divorce is pending, interpret funding clauses dependent on the federal estate tax, and curtail some abuses prevalent in the use of powers of attorney.
As of October 14, 2010, Senate Bill 53
Would you Blow the Whistle on a Tax Cheat?
The IRS estimates that U.S. taxpayers under report and underpay about $400 billion in taxes each and every year. The IRS operates a Whistle blower Program where the agency will give monetary awards to individuals who provide information that results in the collection of significant un-reported tax dollars.
The IRS Whistleblower Office was established by
Make Gifts in 2010 – It’s a Bargain!
Much ink has been spilled on the subject of our President and Congress’s failure to address the federal estate tax in a coherent way. Last year there was a $3.5 million exemption. This year there is no federal estate tax at all. And it looks like there is a good chance there will be an
Beware of Tax Relief Scams
They appear on late night television and on the internet promising to reduce your tax debt, remove tax liens, and settle your unpaid taxes, interest and penalties for pennies on the dollar. Do you really believe you can pay a fee to a tax relief company and reduce your $50,000 tax bill to $2,000?
Apparently
Huguette Clark – Another Brooke Astor?
Huguette CLark, a 104-year-old heiress, has been in a hospital for the last 20 years?
Read Verena Dobnik’s article for the New York Post: click here
Pre-Death Will Validation
Most of these United States use post-mortem probate. A person’s will is submitted for probate after his or her death. The idea is that after the testator is dead, the will is read and the testator’s estate is distributed in accordance with his wishes.
I always thought there should be some procedure to validate a
Enforcement of Charitable Pledges
If my father promises to give me money to buy a grand piano for my birthday and then reneges, can I sue him for the money? Is a promise to make a gift legally enforceable? In general, no, I cannot sue him to force him to give me the money for the grand piano.
But
Is your 401(k) advisor buying retail?
Retail mutual fund shares are classes A, B and C. They differ in the amounts of internal 12-b1 fees and also on the loads, or sales charges. Read about it here: The ABCs of Mutual Funds. There is another class offered for many funds: Class I, which stands for institutional class. Class I shares are