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Fines-and-fees system that helps fund court budget is unconstitutional, 5th Circuit rules

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  A federal appeals panel has ruled that a system of criminal fines and fees in the New Orleans criminal court was unconstitutional because the money is used to support a general fund overseen by the court’s judges. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 23 on behalf of six criminal defendants who were jailed because they were unable to pay fines and fees. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law noted the decision in … Continued

Estate planning for the other 99%

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  Estate planning has always included much more than simply strategizing about how to minimize estate taxes. Estate planning is needed to address a multitude of other nontax matters,including: Custody of minor children upon the death of their parents, as well as custody of their assets; Charitable goals and objectives; How assets will be administered for the benefit of a surviving spouse; Determination of which heirs will receive estate assets after the second death; Structuring of asset distributions to these … Continued

Current Estate And Gift Tax Proposals In Congress – Family and Matrimonial – United States

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  Current TCJA Gift and Estate Tax Laws Under the TCJA law, effective January 1, 2018, each person is granted an exemption of $11.18 million from payment of U.S. gift tax and, to the extent not applied toward gift tax, U.S. estate tax. This exemption effectively shelters the taxpayer up to an aggregate amount of $11.18 million in 2018, twice the amount that was applicable in the year before. For each year after 2018, this exemption amount will be indexed … Continued

Beware, the IRS is eyeing your inherited money – MarketWatch

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  One of the perils of being well-off is the constant risk that the federal government and/or your friendly state and local tax collectors will figure out new and different ways to snatch more of your wealth. Especially wealth that you earned the old-fashioned way: by inheriting it. To raise your paranoia to the appropriate level, here are two new things to worry about.   Beware, the IRS is eyeing your inherited money – MarketWatch

Dueling economists debate how much a wealth tax would raise

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  The wealth tax proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren has sparked a fierce — and increasingly personal — debate between the party’s traditional academic elite and the darlings of the new left. Lawrence Summers, former Treasury Secretary and longtime economic guru of the Democratic Party, published an op-ed in The Washington Post in April saying the revenue estimates from Warren and her economic advisors were overly optimistic. Dueling economists debate how much a wealth tax would raise