Publications Archive

The Nebraska Supreme Court recently issued an important, taxpayer favorable ruling in Stewart v. Nebraska Dept. of Rev.[1] In Stewart, the court ruled that the federal “economic substance” and “sham transaction” doctrines do not apply in determining whether a corporation is a qualified corporation for purposes of Nebraska’s special capital gains exclusion. This ruling effectively blesses pre-transaction planning that causes a corporation to become a qualified corporation.

When doing sophisticated estate and wealth transfer planning for a high net worth client, there may be no more effective weapon in the estate planner’s arsenal than the “grantor trust.” Although the use of grantor trusts by practitioners certainly involves federal estate and gift tax planning considerations, it is the grantor trust’s federal income tax feature that fundamentally differentiates it from other planning options, and it is this characteristic that has led one of the nation’s leading trusts and estates lawyers to state that "grantor trusts are among the most powerful estate planning tools.”

For employers, the cost of noncompliance with the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA") has always been high, but it just got higher as a result of recent adjustments for inflation. In the case of Form I-9 violations, penalties have risen 96%. These dramatically increased amounts apply to civil monetary penalties assessed after August 1, 2016 for violations that occurred after November 2, 2015. The penalties are serious business and act as a solemn reminder that employers should regularly audit their Form I-9 compliance processes.

An agent under a durable financial power of attorney (“POA”) is appointed by you to act on your behalf with regard to your property, business, and financial affairs. Your agent is legally permitted to perform acts that you designate, which may include simple tasks, such as paying bills and depositing checks, or more complicated tasks, such as managing your real estate, investments, or business.

The nature of the stock options must be understood in order to properly factor them into the marital estate, and the concept of vesting and maturity are important. Vesting relates to when the employee can exercise the option, and maturity relates to whether the right to exercise is absolute.

You’ve worked hard to get here…you’ve made a conscious effort to save for retirement, start college savings funds for your children and stick to your financial plan. But does your financial plan include your post-death intentions or does it fall short?

Regrets exist, for many farmers and bankers from the 1980s Farm Crisis days, over opportunities-lost.

The regrets often arise like this: the ag economy has been good but is declining. During good times, a farmer increases standards of living and operating and keeps bills paid—but can't any longer. Farmer considers partial liquidation while values are strong. But farmer hates taxes, can't part with land, and won’t give up the current way-of-life; so farmer decides to hope for better days instead. Better days don't arrive, and banker demands liquidation. "But asset prices are low," complains the farmer. Banker begins legal action, and farmer files Chapter 11. Farmer and banker are now bitter enemies. Farmer proposes a Chapter 11 plan, hoping to remain in business. Banker rejects the plan. The ag economy continues downward. Farmer runs out of cash, and the farm goes into liquidation. It sells dirt cheap. A large deficiency remains, as does a large tax bill—and neither can be paid. It's an unmitigated disaster. Everyone has regrets.

In the medical profession regulations abound – both at the federal and state level. Unfortunately, the interpretation of the meaning of these regulations is not always black and white. An example of the need to carefully consider the effect of the regulatory environment on seemingly insignificant business decisions was experienced earlier this spring.

Challenges to incumbent boards and managements by activist investors were common in 2014. With the announcement on January 8, 2015 that Trian Fund Management, L.P. (“Trian”) is nominating a short slate of four candidates for election to the board of directors of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (“DuPont”)—a company with a current market capitalization in excess of $66 billion—this trend is likely to continue in 2015. Moreover, Trian’s proxy contest with DuPont illustrates that not just small- and mid-cap public companies that have underperformed their applicable index are vulnerable to aggressive shareholder activism; shareholder activists also target large-cap public companies that have outperformed the S&P 500 index.