Kyle and Company, P.C.

Disposition of digital assets: reasons for digital estate planning

News Finder — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:00:23 +0000

Death in the digital age is a lot more complicated than it used to be. Traditionally, fiduciaries and family members start administering an estate by reading the individual’s mail and sorting through records at the person’s home. However, with online accounts and paperless billing, these traditional approaches may not be available to fiduciaries today. The information needed to locate and access tangible and digital assets is often in the digital world itself. Email accounts are typically the primary access point to all other online assets. Online statements, notifications, messages, paperless bills etc., will all come through to the decedent’s emails. Moreover, the decedent’s address book and calendar are often tied to or stored within the email account.

How to Get the Most Out of Social Security Planning for Couples

News Finder — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:00:03 +0000

Couples can get more out of their Social Security benefits by timing which spouse files first and ensuring that the higher earner delays benefits until age 70, said certified financial planner Michael Kitces on Thursday at the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) conference in Chicago.

The Role of the Board in Family Business Succession

News Finder — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:21 +0000

A relatively unexplored area of family business research is the role that an active, independent board of directors can play in perpetuating the family business from one generation to the next. A recently published book, Building A Successful Family Business Board, seeks to close that research gap. In fact, according to the book’s authors, an active, independent board can serve as an objective steward, overseeing the creation and execution of a leadership succession plan that works for both the business and the family.

Golden years? Financial elder-abuse now epidemic

News Finder — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:00:59 +0000

The 2009 trial of Anthony Marshall, the son of Brooke Astor, heiress to much of the Astor family fortune, was daily fodder for New York newspapers. So were the attempts by the daughter of Liliane Bettencourt, heiress of the huge L’Oreal fortune, to petition a court for guardianship of her mother. Ms. Bettencourt, later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, was intent on making her photographer sole heir of her $1.4 billion estate.

The highly publicized fights are the most obvious examples of a growing epidemic of elder abuse in the United States, said Cameron DeGuerre, an attorney with Peck Bloom LLC. Ms. DeGuerre, who focuses on trust and probate litigation, gave advisers at the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors conference in Chicago an overview of the problem.

Illinois “click-through nexus” law held unconstitutional

News Finder — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:00:38 +0000

On Monday, the Circuit Court for Cook County in Illinois issued an eagerly awaited order explaining its bench decision on April 25, which declared Illinois’s “click-through nexus” law unconstitutional (Performance Marketing Ass’n v. Hamer, No. 2011 CH 26333 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Cook Cty. 5/7/12)).

The order found that the law (35 Ill. Comp. Stat. 105/2), which expanded the definition of retailers obligated to collect sales tax to those having a contract with a person located in Illinois who refers potential customers through a link on the Illinois person’s website (a so-called click-through connection), violated the Commerce Clause and (by violating the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act, P.L. 105-277) the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

5 Lessons Your Mother Taught You About Business

News Finder — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:00:05 +0000

It’s the annual rite of spring: the celebration of Mother’s Day. It’s that one day of the year that no matter how busy a small business owner is, they take time out to celebrate the contribution of their mother. Most owners have been influenced by their mothers more than they will ever know. In fact, some of the tried-and-true advice our mothers gave us also contains some valuable business lessons. Here’s five pieces of motherly wisdom that no doubt served you well in the business world.

TIGTA and Congress focus on identity theft and tax fraud

News Finder — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:00:38 +0000

On the same day the House Ways and Means Oversight and Social Security Subcommittees held a hearing on tax fraud involving identity theft, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a report saying the IRS does not handle identity theft issues well (TIGTA Rep’t No. 2012-40-050).

Tuesday’s congressional hearing planned to examine how identity theft contributes to tax fraud and whether the IRS and the Social Security Administration are doing enough to protect Social Security numbers and to prevent and detect false tax returns filed by identity thieves.

Does my health care plan provide minimum value?

News Finder — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:47 +0000

Recent IRS guidance proposes three ways for employers to determine whether their plans provide “minimum value,” as required under the Affordable Care Act. In essence, employers will only be considered to have provided minimum value health care coverage if they offer plans that cover 60% of the actuarial value of four “core” benefits: physician care, hospital and emergency room care, pharmacy benefits and lab/imaging services.

The election will determine whether a nasty dose of austerity can be avoided

News Finder — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:40 +0000

AMERICANS have watched austerity sweep Europe with a certain Schadenfreude. But eight months from now they may get a dose of the same medicine. The political compromises that have produced much of America’s deficit of 8% of GDP are programmed to go into reverse at the end of the year, two months after the election. A stimulus package consisting of a payroll-tax cut, investment tax credit and enhanced unemployment insurance expires then, as do George W. Bush’s tax cuts (which have already been extended by two years from their original end-date of 2010). At the same time an automatic, across-the-board cut in domestic and defence spending, called a “sequester”, takes effect, cutting about $100 billion from government spending next year.

Rents soar as foreclosure victims, young workers seek housing

News Finder — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:00:44 +0000

A nation still struggling to clear up one housing debacle has run smack into another — soaring rents.

The foreclosure mess has pushed millions of former homeowners with tarnished credit into a competitive apartment market across the U.S. Add fresh demand from young workers, few new units and tight standards for home loans, and the result is rental sticker shock not seen in years.