Friday, May 27, 2011 Recent Press Coverage of Estate Planning (May 27, 2011)
Lauren Foster of Barron’s reviews five common mistakes that non-professional trustees make when managing a trust. Pitfalls include failing to keep adequate records, failing to diversify trust assets, failing to recognize conflicts of interest and treating beneficiaries and remaindermen appropriately, and expecting timely and reasonable compensation for taking on the role of trustee. See The Five Biggest Ways to Bungle a Trust (May 21, 2011).
Arden Dale of the Wall Street Journal discusses how heirs and executors of people who died in 2010 are struggling with important estate administration decisions. Part of the problem lies in that fact that executors can choose among two estate tax regimes, one with no estate tax but a complicated capital gains framework, and one with an elevated federal estate tax threshold. On top of that, the IRS hasn’t issued some important forms, which leads to questions about elections and due dates. See A Tough Call for Heirs (May 21, 2011). |