Everyone else seems to be writing about the Facebook IPO so I will reluctantly follow the herd, but from an estate tax perspective.

Zuckerberg and other FB founders have the ability to avoid future gift and estate taxes on their FB stock by creating a GRAT.  That trust allows them to annually receive income generated by the stock, but ultimately transfer it to their heirs at the current  value discounted for the time value of money.  This strategy also works for people who are not only founders of social media behemoths.

A professor of health and economics debates a nursing home reform advocate about the pros and cons of buying long term care insurance.  My conclusion is that the people with minimal savings do not need it nor do those without children.  If people can afford it, they should buy it.  Annual premiums cost $3,500 which is less than a month in a nursing home.  I am inclined to spend $3,500 to save $80,000 – $100,00 per year.  However, I do understand the hesitation to write a $3,500 check.

Once again, with federal estate taxes not being much of a concern to most people, the smaller estate planning issues have become more prominent.  Planning for pets has taken on greater importance in recent years with the advent of pet trusts and other arrangements after the death of the owner.

My favorite anecdote in the article is the couple who has designated a guardian for their children, but would not trust them with their pet.  I think that they might wish to revisit the guardian selection.

Many people have criticized the wills of Chief Justice Burger and Howard Hughes as being poor examples of estate planning.  A recent article defends the Burger will as being adequate and raises the point that Hughes’ hand written “Mormon  will” might have been legitimate after all and actually accomplished his estate planning goals.  Of course, if Hughes had hired an attorney to prepare the will, the questions about its authenticity would have dissipated.

When and how do children offer to assist their parents with the management of  their financial affairs?  A few signs that assistance is needed are:

1.  a large volume of phone and mail solicitations for money,
2.  checkbook errors,
3.  unpaid bills, and
4.  disorder where there used to be order.

Children should offer to assist with bill paying and financial management.  Additionally, the parent should make sure that he has a will, financial power of attorney, health care power of attorney and perhaps a trust in place to enable the child to assist the parent.