Publications
Forbes: Thoughts On Collecting Art
The recent death of famed art collector Sheldon Solow has raised in my mind the more common question for estate planners about what to do with art in an estate. Once a person starts accumulating Art, their mind often turns to forming a Collection. Any estate planner for the collector should ask some hard questions. The fact is that Art of every description are sold each year as adding to a collection; unhappily, most of these collections fail in the long or short term to be financially or artistically successful and end up being broken up at the death of the Collector. If you are intent on creating a collection, here are a few thoughts on what to do, and not do, from an estate planner’s perspective.
Forbes: Where Do We Go From Here?
I mentioned in a previous article on how not to tear a family business apart the usefulness of Scenario planning. I have had a few questions on what, exactly, scenario planning is and how it works with estate planning so here is a bit more on the technique.
Forbes: The 2020-2021 IRS Priority Guidance Plan
The IRS issued the Priority Guidance Plan for 2020-2021 on November 17, 2020. This plan contains the guidance projects that will be the focus of efforts during the 12-month period from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021 (referred to as the plan year). The 2020-2021 Priority Guidance Plan contains 191 guidance projects and, as of September 30, 2020, 57 guidance items have been released.
Forbes: What if A Beneficiary Becomes An Addict?
Since the beginning of sheltering-in-place in response to the pandemic, there have been concerns about the impact the response has had on drug and alcohol recovery programs and their clients. This is to the extent where some are seeing substance abuse as a “pandemic within a pandemic”. Filling the gap in available treatment is a policy issue that has to be addressed by society, but trusts can be drafted so as to increase the likelihood of long term (2+ years) recovery from less than 25% to 92%.
Forbes: Handling Debts in an Estate
The financial stress on both families and businesses as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic means an increasing level of debt for both. In reviewing estate plans today, one of the issues to consider is what would happen if a client who has significant debts, or is liable for debts incurred by their business, suddenly falls ill and dies? There is a process for handling debts of a decedent in estates, but it requires careful planning.