"The most beautiful people are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths….Beautiful people do not just happen."
Aunt Mildred has died, a lovely woman in her 90s. As it turns out, you are in her estate plan – but not as a beneficiary. Shockingly, you have been given a starring role and you never even knew you were up for the part. She named you her trustee. What that means is that […]
As her husband was confessing his misdeeds on national television in June of 1994, Princess Diana took sartorial revenge at a gala in London. In a stunning display of royal moxie, she wore a form-fitting black silk dress with a plunging neckline and a thigh-high hemline. Behind her, a black chiffon train billowed like smoke […]
"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat."
Early one morning in the summer of 1970, Fouyard, my grandfather’s prize bull, broke out of his pasture in an impressive lunge for freedom. A nearly two ton Charolais, white as buttermilk, he’d heard the siren call of the nearby cows and he was feeling romantic. Massive, muscled and ornery, Fouyard was the pride of the […]
Rose was completely annoyed with her brother, Paul. Their mother had died four years earlier and Paul, the executor, still had not settled her estate. Instead, he focused obsessively on his art while the family’s holdings crumbled into ruin. Finally, after considerable nagging from his sister, Paul sold the estate and divided the funds. With […]
Florida has enacted a law of great significance. This new law will allow a married couple to own appreciated assets in a special trust, called a Florida Community Property Trust, or CPT. After the death of the first spouse, all unrealized capital gains in the trust’s portfolio are eliminated. Many couples are considering using this […]