When a group of Smith family members1 meets twice a year as a board to discuss investments and grantees for their family foundation, much of the procedure appears routine. The members talk about stocks in which some of their foundation's money...

The family office market has become crowded and muddled. Once the domain of easily understood private offices, each dedicated to the needs of a single, very wealthy family, the family office market now includes financial firms of all sizes. The...

Trusts & Estates is pleased to announce the formation of a new editorial advisory board committee on valuations. We are honored to have these experts to serve: Radd L. Riebe (chair) Riebe is a managing director in the Valuation & Financial...

The battle began in earnest more than 40 years ago: How do we determine discounts for lack of marketability (DLOM)? In the 1970s, valuation experts applied a benchmark method. The following decade, experts touted a pre-IPO method. By the latter...

Tax cases offering guidance on the valuation of restricted securities are few and far between. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in its 1998 McClatchy decision1 treated the shares of an affiliate decedent as restricted shares...

Financial families, defined as owners who manage their wealth as business, focused their attention in 2006 on enhancing their wealth strategies and strengthening their relationships with advisors as well as like-minded financial families. Whether...

Private equity is a hot investment these days. And while you may be referring your ultra-high-net-worth clients to established private equity firms, don't be surprised if a wealthy client asks you for advice on a private investment opportunity...

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...

From the grandfather clock that stood sentinel in the front hall of the family home to the worn-out tennis racquet Dad always used when letting his kids win a match, many estates include objects that have little or no financial value but are...

The Delaware Chancery Court has developed a unique approach to an appraisal issue that has dogged estate and gift tax valuations of subchapter S corporations ever since a string of controversial Tax Court cases earlier this decade. In Delaware...