Life settlement, in which life insurance policies are sold in a secondary market, has become a major financial market and viable opportunity for policyowners to convert unneeded policies for more than their cash surrender value (CSV), often with favorable tax treatment. In this article from the Journal of Accountancy, appraiser Alan Breus, CLU, ChFC reviews the history of the life settlement marketplace, emerging regulation, income tax consequences, tips for safe transactions, and charitable applications.

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A few years ago, insurance advisers Michael Brink and Bryan Clontz wrote an article for the Planned Giving Design Center that discusses ten creative charitable uses of life insurance and their tax implications in planned giving. It has now been updated for current law, so we thought you might enjoy taking another look.
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The Michigan Appeals Court has affirmed the decision of a lower court in Smallegan v. Kooistra in which it held that a donor's attorney did not commit malpractice because he did not ensure the donor had acquired wealth replacement life insurance prior to the funding of a charitable remainder trust.  MORE »

Earlier this week, Treasury released the Bush Administration's Fiscal 2006 Revenue Proposals which include a provision that, if adopted, would impose a 25% excise tax on distributions from certain investor owned charitable life insurance contracts. In this article from the January 2005 issue of Estate Planning Journal, Stephan Leimberg describes these plans and why they represent a "dangerous and disturbing" trend.  MORE »

Charitable Reverse Split Dollar Life Insurance has been marketed for several years as a vehicle that provides benefits to both charity and donor. In this first contribution to Gift Planner's Digest, noted Charitable Tax Attorney Douglas K. Freeman, J.D., LL.M takes a critical look at the benefits and the potential risks of various CRSD techniques to donors and charities.  MORE »