Inherited Estates

Inherited Estates
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2008
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780215521019

With-profits funds offer long-term investment products and are managed by life insurance companies, both proprietary and mutual. Policyholder premiums are held in a pooled fund that is invested in a range of assets, with a significant proportion in equities and property. Inherited estates are defined by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as "the part of the with-profits fund over and above what is required to meet the fund's liabilities that the insurer retains as working capital; it will also include any excess surplus in the fund." Firms will often "smooth" out returns to policyholders in order to cushion policyholders from the extremes of fluctuations in the property and equity markets. The with-profits sector has suffered from conflicts of interest on the part of the management of life funds by proprietary companies, leading to concern among some holders of with-profits policies that their interests have not been adequately protected. All stakeholders in with-profits funds deserve a framework which provides as much simplicity, certainty and clarity as possible. The Committee is not satisfied that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has done enough to provide a robust framework within which these conflicts of interest can be managed. The use of inherited estate in smoothing returns to policyholders between good and bad years is clearly appropriate, but more should be done by the industry to improve the transparency of their application of smoothing techniques. The Committee also comments on funding of new business, mis-selling compensation costs, shareholder tax, phasing of special distribution payouts, and the resources, remit and visibility of With-profits Committees.

Understanding Living Trusts

Understanding Living Trusts
Author: Vickie Schumacher
Publisher: Schumacher Publishing
Total Pages: 230
Release: 1990
Genre: Law
ISBN:

Written in clear, conversational English, this book can help anyone understand how a living trust avoids the complications, expenses, and delays of probate at times of incapacity and death.

The Artist's Estate

The Artist's Estate
Author: Dr. Loretta Würtenberger
Publisher: Hatje Cantz Verlag
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2021-11-24
Genre: Art
ISBN: 3775751734

Andy Warhol bequeathed us the words "Death can really make you look like a star." But death per se is not a catalyst for the relevance of an artist. What is of crucial importance is the proper management structure for the posthumous preservation and development of an artistic estate. The handbook by Loretta Würtenberger presents the possible legal framework, appropriate financing models, as well as the proper handling of the market, museums, and academia. Her business, Fine Art Partners, has advised artists and artists' estates for many years in their structuring and development of estate concepts as well as in operative questions. Based on numerous international examples, the author explains the different alternatives for maintaining an artist's estate and makes recommendations on how to ideally handle work, archives, and mementos following the death of an artist.

Social Q's

Social Q's
Author: Philip Galanes
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2012-11-27
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 145160579X

A series of whimsical essays by the New York Times "Social Q's" columnist provides modern advice on navigating today's murky moral waters, sharing recommendations for such everyday situations as texting on the bus to splitting a dinner check.

Estate Planning 101

Estate Planning 101
Author: Vicki Cook
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2021-08-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1507216408

Discover the ins and outs of planning your own or your loved one’s last wishes with this easy-to-understand guide to estate planning. No one likes to talk about death, but being prepared for any unexpected tragedy can help your loved ones navigate your loss more easily in the long run. From creating your advanced medical directives to designating your beneficiaries, estate planning can ensure that your wishes are carried out when you are no longer around. With Estate Planning 101, you can get your affairs in order before any unfortunate incident occurs. This easy-to-understand guide comes with detailed information on what needs to be done to protect your estate. With information on creating a living will, minimizing estate taxes, choosing an executor, and more, you will be prepared for the future, no matter what it brings. Estate Planning 101 offers you step-by-step instructions and checklists to keep you organized for whatever life throws your way.

Savvy Estate Planning

Savvy Estate Planning
Author: James L. Cunningham Jr.
Publisher:
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2017-09-19
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9781619616400

Too many people make the wrong choices when it comes to estate planning. If it's not done properly, you could leave your loved ones facing trouble when you pass away or become incapacitated. Fortunately, you can learn from others' mistakes and be prepared before speaking to a lawyer about your future. In this no-nonsense guide, attorney James L. Cunningham, Jr. shows how to avoid the top-ten mistakes that could damage your financial succession, family, heirs, and legacy. You'll get the unvarnished picture on probate, living trusts, living wills, powers of attorney, conservators, and guardians, as well as disability and incapacity planning and how to find the right attorney for you. There's even a checklist to guide you on what issues to discuss with them. Savvy Estate Planning provides the essentials you need to know about estate planning. The only mistake you could make now would be to ignore it.

Death by a Thousand Cuts

Death by a Thousand Cuts
Author: Michael J. Graetz
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 387
Release: 2011-01-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1400839181

This fast-paced book by Yale professors Michael Graetz and Ian Shapiro unravels the following mystery: How is it that the estate tax, which has been on the books continuously since 1916 and is paid by only the wealthiest two percent of Americans, was repealed in 2001 with broad bipartisan support? The mystery is all the more striking because the repeal was not done in the dead of night, like a congressional pay raise. It came at the end of a multiyear populist campaign launched by a few individuals, and was heralded by its supporters as a signal achievement for Americans who are committed to the work ethic and the American Dream. Graetz and Shapiro conducted wide-ranging interviews with the relevant players: members of congress, senators, staffers from the key committees and the Bush White House, civil servants, think tank and interest group representatives, and many others. The result is a unique portrait of American politics as viewed through the lens of the death tax repeal saga. Graetz and Shapiro brilliantly illuminate the repeal campaign's many fascinating and unexpected turns--particularly the odd end result whereby the repeal is slated to self-destruct a decade after its passage. They show that the stakes in this fight are exceedingly high; the very survival of the long standing American consensus on progressive taxation is being threatened. Graetz and Shapiro's rich narrative reads more like a political drama than a conventional work of scholarship. Yet every page is suffused by their intimate knowledge of the history of the tax code, the transformation of American conservatism over the past three decades, and the wider political implications of battles over tax policy.

Estate Landscapes in Northern Europe

Estate Landscapes in Northern Europe
Author: Signe Boeskov
Publisher: Aarhus Universitetsforlag
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2019-07-01
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 8771848991

Estate Landscapes in Northern Europe is the first study of the role of the landed estate as an agent in the shaping of landscapes and societies across northern Europe over the past five centuries. Leading us into the fascinating variations of manorial worlds, the present volume seeks to open the field to include a broader perspective on estate landscapes. Estate - or manorial - landscapes were distinctive elements within the historic landscape and created their own character. Marked by larger scale fields associated with the home or demesne farm as well as a higher proportion of woodland and timber trees the landscapes reflected the scale of the resources available to the landowner and the control they exerted over the local communities. But they also represented the performative aspects of life for the elite, such as their engagement with hunting. While existing works have tended to emphasize the economic and agricultural aspect of estate landscapes, this volume draws out the social, cultural and political impact of manors and estates on landscapes throughout northern Europe. The chapters provide insights into a broad range of histories, such as the social worlds of burghers and nobility in the Dutch Republic, or the relationship between the distribution of land and the agitation for electoral reform in nineteenth-century England. Elsewhere in Scandinavia the impact of the reformation and conquest in Norway is balanced against the continuity of ownership in Sweden, where developing the natural resources for industrial enterprise such as ironworks and sawmills brought in new owners. Estate Landscapes in Northern Europe is the first product of the collaboration of researchers from Norway, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and the Netherlands, joined together in the European Network for Country House and Estate Research (ENCOUNTER).