Written by Stephanie Moll and Steve Dawson

Effective January 1, 2013, Illinois statute authorizes “decanting” of irrevocable trusts.

What is decanting, you ask? Isn’t that something you do with a bottle of wine? Yes, it is, and just like you decant wine from one bottle into a new container to remove sediment and to allow the wine to breathe, when … Read More

Cisco blog post by Steve Ridder       

The wealth management industry is under transformation. In an effort to win back trust, attract new customers and retain existing ones, firms are investing in new collaborative technologies that support their business model transformation from transactions to interactions focused on client centricity.

Various McKinsey research and studies have shown that those who adopt more … Read More

By WSJ Staff

The IRS scandal, in which tax-exemption applications from conservative groups were targeted, has highlighted the roles of several officials both in the IRS as well as in the Treasury Department and White House.

Here’s a rundown.

Douglas Shulman (Former IRS commissioner)

Douglas Shulman led the IRS from March 2008 until November 2012. Members of Congress have focused … Read More

Forbes story by Edwin Durgy

U.S. Trust released its 2013 Insights on Wealth and Worth report on Tuesday. The nation’s oldest trust company, under the wing of Bank of America since 2007, surveyed 711 wealthy American adults over the age of 18 with investable assets north of $3 million on a variety of wealth-related topics. The results revealed a significant … Read More

BNY Mellon Corp , the world’s largest custody bank, said it would add up to 100 positions at its wealth management unit, expanding the sales force at the unit by 50 percent in the next two years.

Banks such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc have been expanding their less risky wealth management businesses as increased regulations hit … Read More

LPL Fined $7.5 Million and Ordered to Establish $1.5 Million Fund to Compensate Affected Customers

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it fined LPL Financial LLC (LPL) $7.5 million for 35 separate, significant email system failures, which prevented LPL from accessing hundreds of millions of emails and reviewing tens of millions of other emails. Additionally, LPL made … Read More

NYT article by Nicholas Confessore, David Kocieniewski and Michael Luo

During the summer of 2010, the dozen or so accountants and tax agents of Group 7822 of the Internal Revenue Service office in Cincinnati got a directive from their manager. A growing number of organizations identifying themselves as part of the Tea Party had begun applying for tax exemptions, the … Read More

WSJ article by Julie Steinberg and Kelly Greene

You don’t have to be a Rockefeller to join a family office.

Family offices are private firms that manage just about everything for the wealthiest families: tax planning, investment management, estate planning, philanthropy, art and wine collections—even the family vacation compound.

Now many family offices are courting the merely rich.

The price … Read More

WSJ article By Arden Dale

The federal government won’t tax an individual’s estate if it’s worth less than $5.25 million.

But many states will tax estates worth far less. For example, New Jersey’s estate tax kicks in at $675,000–the lowest threshold in the nation.

Surprisingly, many people don’t know how much their estate might owe in state estate taxes at … Read More

By Chelsea Emery

Wealth managers who think that writing a book will bring them influence and a flood of new clients may want to think again.

A nice hardback could bring some respect, say advisers who gave in to the temptation of authorship, but at the cost of thousands of dollars, plus years’ worth of nights and weekends.

Would-be authors … Read More