Recent Articles

Feder and Fujishima: When It Comes To Life Insurance and Taxes, Dot Your I's and Cross Your T's

Scott Tippett
January 21, 2012 17:18

Two recent Tax Court decisions illustrate the danger (and cost) of not paying attention to the details when it comes to life insurance policies and taxes.  In each case the taxpayer failed to dot their i’s and cross their t’s, which created adverse estate tax consequences in one...

Designation of Client's Living Trust as Beneficiary of Life Insurance Policy Forfeits Exemption

Scott Tippett
January 16, 2012 01:58

In North Carolina a creditor cannot reach the cash value or death benefit of a debtor’s life insurance policy on his or her own life provided the debtor’s spouse, children, or both are the beneficiaries of the policy.  This right is guaranteed under Article X, Section 5...

FTC v. Olmstead - Eleventh Circuit Speaks: Charging Order Is NOT Sole Remedy.

September 29, 2010 17:27

Though the result was preordained, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued its decision in FTC v. Olmstead.  At issue in Olmstead was whether Florida law allowed a court to order a judgment-debtor to surrender all "right, title, and interest" in the...

Charging Order Protection? Not So Says Florida Supreme Court.

July 21, 2010 20:16

Confusion and chaos.  That's what the Florida Supreme Court created in Olmstead v. F.T.C. In Olmstead the Florida Supreme Court, in a 4-2 decision with a scathing dissent, ruled that Florida law allows a court to order a judgment debtor to surrender all right, title, and interest in the...

SEC Disgorgement Order + Cook Islands Trust = Jail

March 09, 2010 23:52

In SEC v. Solow, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") charged Jamie Solow, a stock broker, with a fraudulent trading scheme involving inverse floating rate collateralized mortgage obligations. The case was tried to a jury , which returned a verdict in the SEC's favor on all...

Questionable Tax Scheme Costs Taxpayer $295k in Taxes

February 26, 2010 13:50

The English proverb, "A fool and his money are soon parted" is particularly applicable in the context of tax schemes and bogus asset protection plans.  Sometimes half the battle is pointing out the bogus plans and scams and why those plans not only do not work, but subject the client...

Vague Deed Causes $330,000 Increase in Estate Tax

February 22, 2010 13:05

Failure to specify whether real property was deeded as tenants-in-common or tenants by the entirety created an additional $330,000 federal estate tax deficiency.  In Goldberg v. Commissioner, a recent Tax Court case arising in New York, the decedent executed deeds for two pieces of...

Are IRA Withdrawals Safe From Creditors?

February 22, 2010 00:42

Until recently, the answer would have been a fuzzy, "Uh maybe.  I don't know."  Now the answer is a resounding YES.  Withdrawals from an IRA account are exempt--regardless of how the judgment debtor chooses to use the withdrawal or the age at which the debtor makes the...

Is Your ILIT A Ticking Time Bomb?

February 19, 2010 15:01

Is your Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust ("ILIT") funded by a universal life policy more than five years old?  If so, your ILIT could go from a safe vehicle to leverage and shift wealth on a potentially estate and income tax free basis to a ticking time bomb that may implode when you...

Family limited partnerships survive and thrive: act while you can

February 04, 2010 21:18

In a recent decision, the normally unfriendly United States Tax Court ruled in favor of a taxpayer in a family limited partnership ("FLP") case.  In Estate of Shurtz (.pdf), the Tax Court ruled that despite somewhat lax observations of the corporate formalities, a FLP was...