The general tax rule is that trusts compute their income and deductions as if they were individuals.1 Probably the most significant exception to this rule is the charitable deduction: The rules are so different for trusts that it may be easier to...
Dear Editor: The March issue's, Charitable Giving, column in the Briefing section described private letter rulings issued to Harvard University in 2003 and to other universities starting in 2006. The technique outlined in the rulings and described...
David T. Leibell and Daniel L. Daniels of Cummings & Lockwood LLC in Stamford, Conn. report: On June 14, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service released for public comment a discussion draft of a redesigned Form 990, Return of Organizations Exempt...
At some point in the life of a private foundation (PF), it may be advantageous to transfer most or all of its assets to one or more other PFs. The most common reasons are to enable a PF's board members with incompatible objectives to pursue their...
As a practicing trusts-and-estates attorney, I approached a book with a plot about an unusual bequest in a last will and testament and whose narrator was an 80-year-old lawyer with great anticipation. Jim Stovall's short (154 page) novel, The...
Last year, Warren Buffett threw down the gauntlet: Here's what philanthropy looks like on the grandest scale. Together, he and Bill Gates have set out to change the world using a private foundation through which $60 billion of their money will...
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), which so radically redefined the rules for supporting organizations, also transformed the rules for donor-advised funds (DAFs). The PPA for the first time accords DAFs express recognition in the Internal...
A new study on high-net-worth philanthropy shows that the rich are different. David T. Leibell and Daniel L. Daniels, partners of Cummings & Lockwood, LLC in Stamford, Conn., report: According to a study released Oct. 26 the Bank of America Study...
Nonprofits, especially those operating or fundraising in multiple states, are under a great deal of pressure these days to maintain compliance with both federal and state regulations. Much of that pressure is fallout from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of...