The Wizard of Oz is an icon of American movie making. Even people who refer to movies as “film” or “cinema” will acknowledge the greatness and cultural impact of Dorothy Gale and her three companions as they followed the yellow brick road. This is a trusts and estates story about her blue gingham dress.
The
Several months ago, I wrote a Blog entry, “Wrongful Life?”, where I discussed whether, in New York, there is a legal remedy for “wrongful life” when a hospital or a doctor refuses to follow the terms of a patient’s living will and his or her health care proxy’s instructions resulting in pain and suffering by
To a New Yorker, this seems impossible, but in some states, a child may be personally liable for a deceased parent’s medical bills. Over half the states have legislation variously referred to as Filial Support or Filial Responsibility Laws. These statutes oblige children to satisfy their parents’ medical debts even if the child made no
Will Rogers, a folksy humorist for those too young to know, once said that “a Republican moves slowly. They are what we call conservatives. A conservative is a man who has plenty of money and doesn’t see any reason why he shouldn’t always have plenty of money. A Democrat is a fellow who never had
Recently, I read a newspaper article reporting that Bing Crosby’s estate is selling an equal stake in the rights to Bing Crosby’s catalog to Primary Wave Music for an estimated $50 million dollars, making Primary Wave Music and the estate partners. Of late, contemporary musicians, such as Bob Dylan and Neil Young, have made lucrative
I. Tax changes, the latest developments.
The Trusts and Estates community is awash with rumors of the tax changes being proposed in Washington. Every day, the inbox is filled with rumors, invitations to webinars on planning opportunities, and the “dire” consequences of some of the proposals. The lobbyists are more numerous in Washington than people
Many people have been following the developments in the conservatorship of Britney Spears. It is hard not to since the matter has been in the headlines so often of late. Ms. Spears alleged gross financial and personal abuse by her father, who, until he was suspended earlier this week by Los Angeles Superior Court, had
Pity the poor estate planners. They are like zookeepers managing an ever increasing menagerie of exotic beasts, creatures of the tax code and regulations designed to take maximum, albeit legitimate, advantage of the complexities increasingly built into the system. For example: CRATs, CRUTs, FLPs, Zeroed-Out CLATs, Stretch IRAs, RMDs, GRUTs, DAPTs, Grantor Trusts, SLATs, etc.
While the producers of the television show Jeopardy are trying to find a replacement to the late Alex Trebek (your writer is old enough to remember the original host Art Fleming), a popular category of the game show provides the title for this week’s collection of trusts and estates related news, Potpourri.
Dorothy Parker is known for having been a prolific writer and poet. She was born in 1893 and died in 1967. She is famous for her satirical style and biting wit. She was a member of the legendary Algonquin Round Table, a group that included Robert Benchley, an American humorist, and Robert E. Sherwood, an
