The 7520 rate for May 2017 has decreased to 2.4%.

The May 2017 Applicable Federal Interest Rates can be found here.

Powers of attorney can be matters of convenience or matters of necessity – the principal either doesn’t want to do something or the principal can’t do something.  For the agents under a power of attorney, allowing yourself to be named as an agent may be nothing more than a favor to friend or an expectation as a son or daughter.  When agreeing to be an agent, it may be worth a pause to consider the geographic scope of that responsibility.  Friends and kids move away, but – like a daughter acting as an agent under her father’s power of attorney in Sullivan v. Bunnell – they may find themselves getting hauled into court across the country because they served as an agent under a power of attorney.

Here, in the midst of his divorce, the father moved from Georgia to California

Billionaire David Rockefeller, the grandson of John D. Rockefeller, passed away recently at the age of 101.  In 2017, Forbes estimated that his fortune, investments in real estate, share of family trusts, and other holdings were worth $3.3 billion.  However, because of his family history, it is quite possible that a large portion of that $3.3 billion will not be subject to the estate tax upon his death.

We like when families can work out their estate disputes outside of the courtroom.  Georgia, for one, embraces the “family settlement doctrine,” where heirs at law can agree to distribute or divide property devised under a will, in lieu of that manner provided by the will.  So, too, families often want to ‘avoid probate’ and ‘informally’ distribute the estate.  As the Georgia Court of Appeals reminded us in Maxey v. Sapp, that’s all well and good until someone doesn’t get what they want or what they thought they were getting.

The Sapps executed a joint will providing that when one of them died the survivor would inherit the other’s property. After the survivor’s death, the remainder of the estate was to be devised and bequeathed to their five children, share and share alike. After the husband died, the

Written by Emily Manns and originally posted on BryanCaveCharityLaw.com

Every year, the IRS issues its “Dirty Dozen” Tax Scams list, a compilation of tactics and devices used by scam artists against taxpayers.  While the threat exists year-round, the IRS promulgates the list ahead of filing season. As susceptible taxpayers prepare their returns, they face a higher risk of being targeted.