Global geopolitical concerns have contributed to an unstable economy and increasingly volatile markets. Excessive volatility adds even more complexity for fiduciaries and their investment advisors particularly those who rely on historical...

The first bankruptcy case involving an Alaska asset protection trust (APT), In re Mortensen,1 has been decided. This case (we'll refer to it as Mortensen II, as it was the second of three related rulings) revolved around the February 2005...

Over the past several years, a number of state law changes have caused the issue of trust modification/reformation1 to garner more and more attention from the Internal Revenue Service. First, many states and Washington, D.C. have adopted the...

A client's lack of sophistication and guidance regarding trust-owned life insurance (TOLI) can put estate-planning lawyers in the hot seat. Most states have now enacted the Uniform Prudent Investor Act (UPIA), which imposes a higher standard...

Dramatic new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosure requirements will change the way trustees choose and manage financial advisers. These disclosures provide information that trustees may not have been able to cobble together on their...

IRS expands use of simpler e-Postcard (Form 990-N) for annual information filings

The top 10 things closely held business owners should be considering now

Asset protection grows ever more popular and permanent. After spending over six years in prison for civil contempt, Stephen Jay Lawrence is a free man once again. In the statement releasing Lawrence from prison, Judge Alan Gold for the U.S...

If a client is considering using a corporate trustee as a sole trustee, co-trustee or successor trustee, he'll probably want to interview several institutions and his estate-planning lawyer should be intimately involved in this process. While...

The Hershey School Trust recently tried to sell a controlling interest in Hershey Foods, the largest chocolate maker in the United States. The initiative ignited very vocal public protest and rapid-fire state court litigation that attracted a huge...