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Legalities; A Global Love Affair; Marriages among different nationalities are up, but so are the tax and estate issues.
WSJ.comLOVE HAS NO BORDERS, of course, which may help explain why it's not just the economy that's gone global. To hear estate and tax planners talk, cross-border marriages are skyrocketing—along with a host of international estate and ...
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When ‘loser’ ETFs close, investors can lose too; Tax bills and ‘survivorship bias’ can trip up the unwary
MarketWatchNext month, iShares, the largest exchange-traded fund provider by assets, will do something it hasn’t done in more than a decade: close one of its 290 ETFs.
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Estate planning for the rest of us; Why everyone needs a will and a living trust
MarketWatchMost folks are no longer exposed to the federal estate tax, thanks to today’s relatively generous $5.25 million exemption. Great. But being exempt from the federal estate tax is not the end of the story. If you have assets (maybe just a car ...
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Being Too Fair Invites Trouble in Estate Planning
WSJ.comHow can wealth managers help keep an estate from winding up tangled in legal battles between the heirs? For one thing, encourage clients not to be too "fair" in the division of assets, say estate lawyers E. Patricia Chantler and Wonsun ...
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Focus Shifts to State Estate-Tax Planning
WSJ.comThe federal government won't tax an individual's estate if it's worth less than $5.25 million.But many states will tax estates worth far less. For example, New Jersey's estate tax kicks in at $675,000--the lowest threshold in the nation.
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Financial Advice, Served Rare
WSJ.comYou don't have to be a Rockefeller to join a family office.Family offices are private firms that manage just about everything for the wealthiest families: tax planning, investment management, estate planning, philanthropy, art and wine ...
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An Estate Plan to Prevent Sibling Disputes
WSJ.comThe 60-something client came into adviser Ross Gerber's office to help address a rift that was opening in his family.He had remarried and had young children, but both he and his new wife had adult children from their previous marriages. And ...
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When It's Time to Huddle
WSJ.comPeople are calling "family meetings" nowadays not only to deal with their parents' health issues but increasingly to sort out their finances as well.
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Make your heirs happy: Update your will; Outdated estate-plan paperwork can be a wealth-killer
MarketWatchWhen was the last time you looked at your will? If you can’t remember, it is time for a review. Having outdated legal documents, such as a will or power of attorney, can wreak havoc on your health and your family’s wealth.
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Advisers Find New Estate-Tax Strategy
WSJ.comWealthy taxpayers now can protect more of their estates from federal tax each year with a new strategy some advisers are starting to employ.
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Will the Government Shrink Your IRA?
WSJ.comAs the April 15 filing deadline looms, it looks like some tax-protected retirement-savings vehicles might not be so protected after all.President Barack Obama's budget for fiscal year 2014, released Wednesday, is loaded with an unusually ...
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Snapping Up Real Estate
WSJ.comInvesting directly in property can be an attractive alternative to low-yielding bonds but isn't for everyone. Investors should know the real-estate market, be wary of what can go wrong and, because properties can be illiquid, have plenty of ...
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The Experts: How to Keep Heirs From Losing Their Work Ethic
WSJ.comHow do you keep heirs from losing their work ethic if they know they stand to inherit a lot of money? The Wall Street Journal put this question to The Experts, an exclusive group of industry and thought leaders who engage in in-depth online ...
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Confessions of a Saint
WSJ.comEach week in Curtain Raisers, we invite a local theater artist to attend a show of his or her choosing and discuss the work. On Thursday, playwright Lucas Hnath went to the Walter Kerr Theatre to see a preview of Colm Tóibín's "The ...
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Estate Planning: New Hazards
WSJ.comYou thought your estate plans were finally set? Not so fast.It turns out the "permanent" $5 million estate-tax exemption enacted earlier this year could change after all, sending families back to the drawing board to sort out their ...
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Death Tax Made More Deadly; Obama proposes another big increase in the estate levy.
WSJ.comAn abiding lesson of the Obama Presidency is that no tax increase is ever enough. So it's not surprising that the President's new budget includes an increase in the death tax only three months after the last increase.
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Bolstering Your Benefits
WSJ.comAs retirees look to squeeze the most from their Social Security benefits, financial firms and advocacy groups are offering more advice on maximizing payouts.
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Minimizing a Wealthy Client's Tax Liability
WSJ.comThe 66-year-old widow had been a client of adviser Jay Wertz since her husband died in 2007, leaving her with had an estate worth $30 million.
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Gift Taxes: What Your CPA Doesn't Know
WSJ.comTaxpayers who gave substantial assets to family members last year could be in for a nasty surprise this tax season: potential errors on federal gift-tax returns that could result in donors owing taxes on gifts they thought were tax-free.
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Financing Your Future
WSJ.comEstate PlanningHere's a new book that, in theory, could help the denizens of "Downton Abbey," the PBS series in which the aristocratic Crawley family seems incapable of getting its estate-planning act together. The American Bar Association ...
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IRS Rules Can Snag Parents of Foreign Students
WSJ.comForeign parents who send their kids to U.S. colleges and careers are turning to financial advisers to help them stay on the Internal Revenue Service's good side during their children's college years and beyond.
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Shoring Up Your Prenup
WSJ.comAs prenuptial agreements become more common, spouses are finding the documents easier to challenge in court.In a surprise move, a New York appellate court threw out a prenup last month, even though such agreements are considered one of the ...
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Advisers See Tax Trap in Gift-Tax Returns
WSJ.comTaxpayers who gifted their assets to family members last year could be in for a nasty surprise this tax season.Financial advisers are concerned about potential errors on federal gift-tax returns--which could result in donors being forced to ...
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Is Estate-Tax Portability Permanent?
WSJ.comQ:I read your article on the new federal estate-tax laws. Even though the exemptions are to be "permanent," we all know Congress could change those in the future. Do you think the new "portability" rules really will be permanent?
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Legacy; You're Dead, But Still in Control; Perpetual trusts have become popular among the wealthy. But just how long does forever really last?
WSJ.comETERNITY IS A BIG NUT TO CRACK. I'd suggest asking the Duke of Norfolk about this, but he died in the 17th century. Attempting to achieve a form of immortality, the duke devised a then-innovative estate plan that passed his titles to his ...
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How to Bust a Trust
Barrons.comSetting up an irrevocable trust is meant to guarantee that your wishes are carried out, even if your beneficiaries bristle at how the money is dribbled out after you've skipped into the beyond. But sometimes your wishes can't be carried out ...
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Money Lessons From 'Downton Abbey'
WSJ.comSpoiler alert: This article contains references to Season 3 of "Downton Abbey."If you need your wife's dowry to prop up your sprawling manse and a small army of domestic staff, don't bet it all on a railroad thousands of miles away.
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Saving a Few Million in Estate Taxes
WSJ.comWhen Congress let the estate tax expire in 2010 and then passed new legislation later that year to reinstate the tax for 2011 and beyond, heirs who had inherited estates faced a choice.
Inheriting Your Spouse's IRA; Rules if you choose to disclaim your inherited IRA.
SmartMoney.comYou Want to Disclaim an Account Left to You by Your SpouseThe minimum withdrawal rules state that the final beneficiary for an IRA (or SEP) account can be decided as late as Sept. 30 of the year after the year of the original account ...
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Plan to Raise Estate Tax Divides Democrats; At Least Three Senators in President's Party Oppose His Proposal for 45% Rate; Republicans Generally Oppose Any Levy
WSJ.comSen. Mary Landrieu and President Barack Obama can link arms on many pieces of the White House's proposed budget package, including raising taxes on higher-income Americans and spending more on infrastructure.
Estate Planning With a Roth IRA; Congress probably didn't plan it this way, but it's one of the best estate-planning tools around.
SmartMoney.comWhen it comes to saving for retirement, many investors already know how well the Roth IRA fends off Uncle Sam. But what they may not realize is that it's equally effective as an estate-planning tool. Seniors who convert a regular IRA into a ...
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Alleviating Stepchildren's Tax Burden for Second Wife
WSJ.comThe client was in his 80s and in a second marriage to a woman 20 years his junior. He told his adviser, Greg Sullivan, that he wanted to leave his three children $10 million when he passed away. His wife would inherit the remainder of the ...
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Congress Struggles to Reach Cliff Deal
WSJ.comWASHINGTON--Talks are faltering between Republican and Democrats on Sunday over how to avoid the fiscal cliff, with negotiators missing a self-imposed afternoon deadline to present a potential deal to Senate lawmakers.
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Donate to You? Over My Dead Body!
WSJ.comThe day after Thanksgiving, straight out the blue, I got a letter from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art asking if I would like to "fine-tune my estate planning."
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Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts Save Clients Millions
WSJ.comThe husband sold his business for nearly $16 million. He and his wife, both in their 40s, each had $2 million in gift-tax exemptions remaining, and they wanted to set aside a total of $4 million in an irrevocable trust for their four ...
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Estate Planners Caught in Lawmakers' Headlights
WSJ.comLong-term uncertainty about the shape and size of federal gift exclusions, "death" taxes and other estate-planning matters is taking a toll on professionals in the field, says Trust Advisor. Unless Congress hammers out a deal the White ...
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Caveats for Last-Minute Givers
WSJ.comEstate planners say prospective clients who want to give away millions of dollars before Jan. 1 are bombarding them with last-minute requests for tax advice.
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This Eagle Became A Big Legal Turkey
WSJ.comRegarding Eric Gibson's "The Illegal Eagle and a Baldly Grasping IRS" (op-ed, Dec. 3): So let me get this straight. When Ileana Sonnabend's heirs want to donate "Canyon," the artwork is worthless, and no charitable deductions can be ...
Passing Your Home to Heirs; There are nearly half a dozen ways to give a home to your child. And a couple are tax-free. Here's a rundown of your options.
SmartMoney.comBefore the days of estate taxes, children simply moved into the family home and took over the master bedroom after their parents died. Unfortunately, it's not that easy anymore.
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Your 2012 Taxes—Fewer Surprises, Plenty of Pitfalls
WSJ.comNothing is inevitable but death, taxes—and tax-return complexity.This year, though, some taxpayers may find the task somewhat easier. Most of the Internal Revenue Service's forms for 2012 generally look about the same as a year ago, ...
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Wealthy Look to Defer Pay Amid Higher Taxes
WSJ.comNew, higher tax rates already have the wealthy looking to shelter money from the Internal Revenue Service by delaying when they take bonuses and other employer pay.
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It Pays to Stock Kids' IRAs
WSJ.comMore parents, and even grandparents, are making gifts that last—in the form of IRA contributions to their children and grandchildren.Jack Kolff, a 74-year-old retired cardiac surgeon, and his wife, Patricia, 70, who started a nonprofit to ...
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Giving $5 Million In 26 Days
Barrons.comIt's showtime. If you've been waiting for a kick in the pants to start moving on this year's unparalleled gifting opportunities, consider yourself kicked. Barring an 11th-hour compromise by Congress, the lifetime gift-tax exemption will ...
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Women Face Higher Costs
WSJ.comShopping for long-term-care insurance is about to get even trickier for families—and potentially costlier.Until now, insurers have charged the same premiums regardless of gender for the policies, which help pay for future nursing-home, ...
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A false start to tax season; Tax season started Wednesday — but not for everyone
MarketWatchThe fiscal cliff is still causing headaches for taxpayers. Technically, the IRS kicked off tax season Wednesday — a week later than expected, as a result of Congress’s 12th-hour deal — but tax pros say it could be weeks before many ...
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Wealthy Americans Gird for Their Own Cliff
WSJ.comWhatever happens with the "fiscal cliff," wealthy Americans could be paying their last respects to generous tax breaks that let them pass millions of dollars to heirs and other recipients tax-free.
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The Good Life; Before Passing Along Valuables, Passing Along Values; Why legacies and life lessons are an increasingly important part of estate planning
WSJ.comTodd Fithian recently made a film for his four children."I took the time to capture my stories, life lessons and family traditions, many of which have been passed down to me from my parents," says Mr. Fithian, a 43-year-old managing partner ...
Start Giving It Away Early; Should you start giving it away early? It can be a wise estate-planning move to bequeath your IRA to charity and other assets to loved ones.
SmartMoney.comThere are three basic things to remember when getting started with estate planning:The Estate-Tax ExemptionFor 2013 you can leave bequests (gifts to other individuals upon your death) worth up to $5.5 million free of any federal estate tax. ...
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What a Tangled Web We Leave
WSJ.comWhen Alexandra Kaye's husband died last year of a heart attack at age 57, she thought she was well prepared financially—until she started wading through the day-to-day details.
When to File Gift Tax Forms; Steps to take if you think gifts, payments or transfers to family members may run afoul of federal gift tax rules.
SmartMoney.comGenerally speaking you only need to file a gift tax form when you exceed the annual $14,000 tax-free gift limit. But it's also prudent to send in that Form 709 every time you make a transaction with a family member over $14,000 - even if it ...
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Estate planning to care for your pets
MarketWatchWhen Worcester, Mass. resident Tracy Craig got divorced about 10 years ago, she realized that if something happened to her, she wasn’t sure what would become of her beloved golden retrievers Kali and Chelsea.
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Can Dad Still Live Alone?
WSJ.comWhen you have an elderly parent, going home for the holidays can be traumatic.Geriatric social workers, financial planners and staff at long-term-care facilities have seen the same scenario play out many times: Adult children are struck by ...
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The Arnault Legacy; With the house of Dior in the hands of a designer she championed and a newborn baby at home, the daughter of LVMH's founder has many reasons to smile. Will the rebirth of the legendary fashion house mark a new chapter for Delphine Arnault?
WSJ.comTHE BEATING HEART of the house of Dior is tucked away in what feels like the attic of the hotel particulier at 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris. Up the grand marble stairway lined with photos of Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe, through a warren ...
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Beyond Long-Term Care
WSJ.comAs long-term-care-insurance costs climb, families are turning to continuing-care retirement communities as an alternative.Long-term-care insurance generally pays for home care, assisted living or skilled nursing when a policyholder suffers ...
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Estate-Tax Exemption for 2013
WSJ.comQ:I have a question on the recently passed changes to the federal estate-tax laws for 2013. What are the exemptions for estates?P.O., Reed City, Mich.
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Can You Trust Your Kid With $5.25 Million?
WSJ.comWealthy families got a holiday gift on Jan. 1, when Congress agreed on permanent estate-tax rules that are much more generous than many financial planners had expected.
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Using a GRAT to Shelter Gift Taxes
WSJ.comThe retired corporate executive was in his late 60s and had $15 million in assets. In 2002, he decided he wanted to donate $750,000 to each of his two sons while he was still alive--for a total of $1.5 million--so they would have plenty of ...
Check Your Life Insurance; We reveal some secrets of the American Dream.
SmartMoney.comMost people don't realize it, but unless you plan carefully, there's a chance the federal government will end up as a major beneficiary of your life insurance policy. While it is true that life insurance death benefits are paid ...
The Grandparent Tax; Here's how to avoid the bite of the rapacious generation-skipping transfer tax before it takes a bite out of your grandchild's gift.
SmartMoney.comLeaving lots of money to grandchildren, and skipping the generation in between, used to be a nifty way to beat estate taxes. That way, the money was subject to estate tax just once, when the grandparent left it to the grandchild. Otherwise, ...
Closing Down the Estate; Being named the executor of someone's will is tricky tax business.
SmartMoney.comWhen a loved one dies, somebody must step up to the plate to handle all the resulting tax issues. This person may be identified in the decedent's will as executor of the estate. If there isn't a will, however, the probate court will appoint ...
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Time to Convert to a Roth 401(k)?
WSJ.comA little-noticed provision in the new tax law gives many more workers a chance to stockpile tax-free retirement savings.Some financial planners are calling the move a bonanza for investors, especially younger workers, while others have ...
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How to Write a Will
There's no better time to start than today.
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How to Cut Property Taxes
A few steps to take to manage your property tax bill.