Recent Publications - Personal, Family & Business Planning


Joint and Designated Beneficiary Accounts: BEWARE!
November 14, 2022 | Trusts & Estates

Your friendly neighborhood branch banker suggests that you change all your accounts to either joint with your kids or to
name your kids as beneficiaries on all your accounts (a “pay on death” beneficiary designation). She says this will make the administration of your estate when you die much less complicated and easier for

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Planning for the Interest Charge on Installment Sales: Decanting a Grantor Trust?
October 20, 2022 | Trusts & Estates | Tax

Louis Vlahos’ article, “Planning for the Interest Charge on Installment Sales: Decanting a Grantor Trust?”, was published in the New York State Bar Association Trusts and Estates Law Section Journal. Rivkin Radler member Nicholas G. Moneta is the publication’s Editor-in-Chief.

The article discusses the concept that the special interest charge imposed on the deferred tax

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Wendy and Jen Wreck the Movies: King Ralph (1991), or “The Pumpkin Pie is Better Here”
October 20, 2022 | Trusts & Estates

What Happened:

The entire Royal Family of the United Kingdom dies during a poorly planned family photo session (but as anyone who has sat through a family photo knows, they may have faked it).

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond (we tend to be cheeky), Ralph Jones works as a Las Vegas lounge

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Treasury Issues Final Rule on Disclosure of Beneficial Ownership
September 29, 2022 | Compliance, Investigations & White Collar | Tax

In an effort to help prevent and combat money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, tax fraud, and other illicit activity, the United States Department of the Treasury just issued a final rule [RIN: 1506-AB49]. The rule requires certain businesses to file reports with FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) that identify two categories of individuals: the beneficial

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Wendy and Jen Wreck the Movies: Elizabethtown (2005), or “Sharing is Caring, Don’t Keep Your Final Wishes a Secret”
September 15, 2022 | Trusts & Estates

What Happened:

Drew Baylor is a wildly successful athletic shoe designer for Mercury Sportwear until his world is turned askew when one of the shoes he designed is accused of having a design flaw.  Mercury announces a recall; Drew becomes the scapegoat; his boss publicly humiliates him and then unceremoniously fires Drew.

At his darkest

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Back to School: An Education on Parenting from Afar
September 1, 2022 | Trusts & Estates

By now, your college-age kids have decorated their dorm rooms and collected every class syllabus (although whether they’ve read them is a different issue). While you may long for the days when you were an integral part of their daily lives, your job is far from over. You can still protect your kids and your

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Wendy & Jen Wreck the Movies: Addams Family Values, or “The Nanny Tried to Do It”
August 18, 2022 | Trusts & Estates

What happened:

Fester Addams, a wealthy bachelor, wants nothing more than to find a great love like that between his older brother Gomez and his wife Morticia, but he is too trusting and easily mislead. Following the birth of Gomez and Morticia’s third child, Pubert, they hire a nanny named Debbie. Fester quickly becomes

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Wendy and Jen Wreck the Movies: Dial “M” for Murder (1954), or Murder Doesn’t Pay, and Peanut Butter Expires in November
July 21, 2022 | Trusts & Estates

What Happened:

Margot and Tony Wendice seem to have it all – they are young, beautiful, and in love.  However, much like pyrite, not everything that glitters is gold.

Before their marriage, Tony was a successful tennis player.  It would have been unseemly for Margot, a wealthy socialite, to marry a professional athlete, so Tony

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Besides Saving Estate Taxes, What Should Be on Your Estate Planning Checklist?
July 11, 2022 | Trusts & Estates

The federal estate tax exemption provisions are set to expire at the end of 2025, potentially requiring more people to pay estate taxes. In view of the uncertainty of the estate tax laws, it is important to have estate planning documents that are flexible enough to adjust to changing estate tax laws.

Generally, the exemption

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Wendy and Jen Wreck the Movies: Life As We Know It (2010) or Why Your Fraternity Brother May Not Be Suitable for Carpool
June 16, 2022 | Trusts & Estates

What Happens?

In a twisted psychological experiment, Allison and Peter Novak set up their friends Holly Berenson and Eric Messer (a/k/a Messer) on a date.  Holly and Messer are as incompatible as pineapple and New York pizza, and the matchmaking experiment predictably tanks.  The Novaks cannot leave well-enough alone, they double down and pull an

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