For those of you who want to get down and dirty with respect to the federal generation-skipping tax, then “Time Traveling and Generation-Skipping in 2010 and Beyond,” is a must read.  Here's the abstract: “In this article, McCaffrey and Schneider look at the GSTT, its prospects, and the complications that the 2010 suspension of its application and its future reinstatement are likely to cause. The one-year reprieve from the GSTT creates several difficult questions.”

The State of Washington settled a lawsuit it filed against The Preservation Group, LLC, of Chandler, Arizona, Kevin D. Boterman and Robert J. Feinholz alleging that they violated Washington's Estate Distribution Documents Act found in RCW 19.295.020, which provides: “(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, it is unlawful for a person to market estate distribution documents, directly or indirectly, in or from this state unless the person is authorized to practice law in this state. “(2) A person employed by someone authorized to practice law in this state may gather information for, or assist in the preparation of, estate distribution documents as long as that person does not provide any legal advice. “(3) This chapter applies to any person who markets

Wall St. Journal:  “Less than 10 days before [my brother] died, he made me promise that I would write about him again, when his time was up, again because his story would help others. See earlier story. . . . people need to know that they can't wait to take care of the important things in their life too. I don't know how many days I've got, but once you think you can count your days, think of how bad it will be on you and your family if you haven't done the hard stuff.”

The Herald:  “Having a revocable living trust as the centerpiece of an estate plan is the best choice for many.  If properly funded, a trust will avoid probate and conserve the confidentiality of estate assets and distribution. . . . Properly funding a new living trust is an extremely important step in the estate planning process“

ProducersWeb:  “Beginning in January and through the end of December of 2010, there is no Generation Skipping Transfer (GST) Tax, unless Congress changes the law in the meantime. The GST tax was part of the temporary repeal (one year) of the estate tax, which automatically expires at the end of 2010. Starting January 1, 2011, the estate tax and the GST tax come back in full fury, with up to a 55 percent rate of tax. Your estate can suffer both an estate tax and a GST tax at 55 percent each.”

The Heritage Foundation:  “2010 is the only year since 1916 in which heirs to an estate will not have to pay the dreaded death tax. Victory for small businesses? Not yet—due to a legal quirk, the death tax is scheduled to come back to life in 2011. Studies, statistics, and real life have shown again and again that the businesses and families burdened with the death tax often see themselves forced to cut back on benefits, investments, and employees. The death tax keeps new jobs from being created, hurting not just the affected businesses, but the economy as a whole. Because it is a tax on capital, the death tax destroys as many as 1.5 million jobs that the economy needs as it struggles to

Business & Finance:  Part 1, “Leave Your Estate in the Right Hands.” Part 2, “Make Sure Your Plan Fits Your Unique Needs.” “The most important product of estate planning isn't avoiding probate or reducing estate tax exposure, it's achieving family harmony. As a result, we must watch out for personal dynamics that might threaten disharmony when a person dies or becomes incapacitated.”

Toledo Free Press:  “One of the biggest things that most of us procrastinate on is the dreaded task of creating a will or some other kind of estate plan. After all, we are all going to live forever right? . . . f you really think about it, should one really consider a do-it-yourself method for something so important? After all, we are talking about your life savings, all your belongings and things that are dear to you and where it all will end up when you are gone. . . . To try to do something like this yourself, may be like trying to perform surgery on yourself.  Most of us would probably opt to have the specialist perform the surgery for fear of

The Probate Lawyer Blog:  “there's another quirk about the estate tax law that makes it even less likely that the Steinbrenner family will ever sell the team.  The estate tax loophole has a catch.  In 2010, heirs of the very wealthy do not get to enjoy a typical tax savings called “step-up in basis”.  What does this mean? . . . This means that the Steinbrenner heirs have the same tax “basis” that George did when he bought the franchise back in 1973 for a mere $10 million.”

Wall St. Journal:  “Did George Steinbrenner save his heirs millions by dying in 2010?  Forbes recently estimated the Yankees owner’s net worth at $1.1 billion, largely from the YES network.  The New York Yankees, which he acquired in 1973 for $10 million, are now worth $1.6 billion but are 95% leveraged due to debt from the new Yankee Stadium, according to Forbes.  Because Steinbrenner died in a year when there is no federal estate tax, he  potentially saved his heirs a 55% estate tax on his assets — or a tax bill of about $600 million.”

Estate planning attorney Mark Cornwall article called “Planning Pays Off When Leaving Money to Children” discusses the common problem of sibling disputes after their parents are gone and how proper planning by the parents before death can go along way to preventing disputes from arising.  He says: “when it comes to the sibling rivalry after the parents are gone, it doesn’t so easily come to a halt. In fact, it grows worse because the siblings left behind still believe that money is more important than loving the sister you never got along with during the past 20 years. . . . However, this type of unforeseen rivalry can be easily avoidable by putting enough thought into your revocable trust during the course of your estate

Contractor Mag:  “Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, said it: ‘In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing.  The next best thing is the wrong thing.  And the worst thing you can do is nothing.'   This is the story of two brothers, Joe and Moe. Joe, now age 68, did the right thing by creating his estate plan at an early age, monitoring it and updating it as necessary.  Moe, now age 72, on the other hand, was a champion procrastinator.  As you will see, he did very little estate planning and what he did was out of date.”

Wall St. Journal:  “The estate tax is set to come roaring back in January. That sets the stage for a perverse calculus: End it all—or leave a massive bill for your heirs to deal with.  It has come to this: Congress, quite by accident, is incentivizing death.  When the Senate allowed the estate tax to lapse at the end of last year, it encouraged wealthy people near death's door to stay alive until Jan. 1 so they could spare their heirs a 45% tax hit.  Now the situation has reversed: If Congress doesn't change the law soon—and many experts think it won't—the estate tax will come roaring back in 2011.

Wealth Strategies:  “When an estate has firearms, the executor must be careful to avoid violating federal (and state and local) firearms laws. These laws strictly regulate possession of, and access to, certain weapons, the transfer of permissible weapons, and bar certain persons from owning or having any access to firearms. Failure to comply with these laws may result in criminal liability, including stiff punishments and fines, and forfeiture of any weapons involved.  Careful estate planning can help with compliance with some of these laws.”

ABC News:  “Michael Jackson was involved in a startling number of lawsuits throughout his career, and now his estate is attracting enormous legal interest.”

Investment News has a slide show in which it discusses the estate problems of John Wayne, Anna Nicole Smith, Jimi Hendrix, Farrah Fawcett and the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

U.S. News & World Report:  “Every year, thousands of consumers bypass lawyers and create their own wills, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents with the help of online tools and books. As one might expect, lawyers don't like this do-it-yourself approach. They say it breeds mistakes, since when it comes to legal issues, one size never fits all. Do they have a valid point, or are they just trying to protect their own livelihoods?”

Forbes:  “Dennis Hopper and Gary Coleman are just two examples of how things can go very wrong.  Five ways that celebrity divorces can help with your estate planning.  What's one of the last things that most divorcing couples stop to worry about, even though it's critical? Estate planning–wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, medical and financial durable power of attorneys and termination of life support documents. Celebrity cases illustrate how devastating it can be when divorcees neglect their estate planning. How do you protect your own family in the event of a divorce?“

The Indiana Bar Association sued United Financial Systems Corporation and people associated with the company for the unauthorized practice of law in Indiana.  The case is State ex rel. Indiana State Bar Ass'n v. United Financial Systems Corp., 926 N.E.2d 8 (Ind. 2010). UFSC sold wills, trusts and estate plans to residents of Indiana and other states through a system involving door to door sales people who received commissions based on the cost of the estate plans.  It's most expensive estate plans sold in 2009 cost $2,695 of which only $225 was paid to an attorney to draft the documents.  The sales people who sold this estate plan were paid commissions of $750 – $900. The Court concluded that UFSC was engaged in the unauthorized