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Estate Planning Alert: New Civil Marriage Law Could Increase Income Tax Costs, May Offer Estate Tax Benefits

On May 14, 2013, Governor Dayton signed a bill modifying Minnesota Statutes Sections 517 and 518. The bill enacts changes in Minnesota's marriage law, effective August 1, 2013....more

Married Same-Sex Couples Should File Protective Claims For Tax Refunds Now

When the Supreme Court ultimately decides United States v. Windsor, it could strike down the portion of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that prohibits married same-sex couples from receiving the federal benefits provided...more

Was this week the beginning of the end for DOMA?

Hi there, This week had two days of arguments on gay marriage at the Supreme Court. The first case dealt with a challenge to the California law known as Prop. 8, which overturned the California Supreme Court’s...more

Same-Sex Marriage Cases: Are Your Benefit Plans Prepared?

News articles, social media, protests, and lunchroom conversation were all dedicated to the two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court this week. Hollingsworth v. Perry and Windsor v. United States could potentially transform...more

The Estate Tax Consequences of the Defense of Marriage Act for Same-Sex Couples

As of January 1, 2013, the Civil Marriage Protection Act legalized same-sex marriage in the State of Maryland. From the estate-planning perspective, the passage of this law clarified many points that had been problematic for...more

Same-sex married couples: Consider filing a Protective Claim for Tax Refund NOW

Being based in San Francisco, CA, our attorneys, CPAs, and staff watched thousands of same-sex couples marry at San Francisco and Oakland City Halls during the window of opportunity to do so. If you are one of the nearly...more

LGBT Couples Can Apply for Retroactive Tax Refunds

With the looming possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court might strike down the Defense of Marriage Act sometime this term, married same-sex couples could suddenly find themselves eligible for a host of federal tax benefits....more

Windsor Upheld

Earlier this year, I discussed the Windsor case wherein a federal district court struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and allowed a marital deduction in the estate of a deceased same-sex spouse for...more

Federal Estate Tax Equality for Same-Sex Couples

On June 6, 2012, in Windsor v. United States, U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones in the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment to Edith Windsor and created a precedent that is likely to positively affect...more

ABUSO DEL DIRITTO

L'ABUSO DEL DIRITTO -- OSSERVAZIONI --...more

A Trend Toward State Recognition of Same-Sex Civil Unions

On July 2, 2011, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee signed legislation that allows same-sex couples to form civil unions effective as of July 1, 2011. The law comes just days after New York passed legislation legalizing...more

In The Matter Of The Trusts To Be Established In The Matter Of The Estate Of Margaret A. Flood

Order

On July 10, 2009, Judge Patricia Del Bueno Cleary, a Superior Court Judge in Monmouth County, NJ, entered an Order authorizing the Administrator of an intestate estate to establish two Supplemental Benefits Trusts within an...more

In re Keri

Petition For Certification On Behalf Of Petitioner, Richard Keri

This is the brief we filed in support of a petition for certification to the New Jersey Supreme Court in the In re Keri case. The case was accepted by the Supreme Court and the Court ultimately ruled in our favor, ruling, for...more