• Grave Reservations: Everything You Didn’t Realize You Want to Know About Cemeteries
    Dec 23 2024

    Host Warren K. Racusin, Chair of Lowenstein’s Trusts & Estates practice, talks about the law and lore of cemeteries with Eric D. Weinstock, and Rich Moylan, president of Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. They discuss the regulations governing the upkeep and maintenance of these hallowed grounds, the rules about ownership of funeral plots, and the history and architecture of Green-Wood—sprinkling the conversation with some appropriately dark humor.

    Speakers:

    Warren K. Racusin, Partner and Chair, Trusts & Estates
    Eric D. Weinstock, Senior Counsel, Trusts & Estates
    Richard Moylan, President, Green-Wood Cemetery

    Music credits:

    • Lacrimosa – Mozart, Cover by Vivienne Sängerin - https://www.youtube.com/@viviennesaengerin
    • I Met Somebody on the Way to the Cemetery – Mark Bishop, ℗ 2023 Sonlite Records
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    29 mins
  • Can’t Kick the Can Any More—How the Expiring Tax Cuts Could Affect You
    Oct 31 2024

    On this episode of “Splitting Heirs,” partner Warren K. Racusin, Chair of Lowenstein’s Trusts & Estates practice, invites Beth Shapiro Kaufman, Lowenstein Sandler partner and National Chair of the Private Client Services group, and Sandra Swirski, founder of the bipartisan advocacy firm Integer, to discuss how the upcoming 2024 presidential election may affect the taxes you have to pay--exclusions (including the ‘deceased spousal unused exclusion’ or DSUE), and other tax cuts expected to expire soon. In addition to examining the impact of these sunsetting cuts on a particular client, they also address the political and legislative factors that influence these kinds of changes.

    Speakers:

    Warren K. Racusin, Partner and Chair, Trusts & Estates
    Beth Shapiro Kaufman, Partner, National Chair, Private Client Services
    Sandra Swirski, Founder, Integer

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    28 mins
  • The Sad Case of Lovey and Hubby (Part 2)
    Sep 17 2024

    On this episode of “Splitting Heirs,” Warren K. Racusin welcomes back Sharon L. Klein, President of Family Wealth for the Eastern US Region of Wilmington Trust Company and member of the Estate Planning Hall of Fame, to continue their discussion of Lovey and Hubby, two clients who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and then became embroiled in an extremely contentious divorce. The discussion centers on whether irrevocable trusts, into which marital assets were transferred during the course of the marriage, can be considered part of the marital balance sheet during a divorce. Warren and Sharon also address spousal limited access trusts, the concept of the “floating spouse,” tax liability for grantor trusts, and how estate planning attorneys guide clients through the most difficult periods in their lives.

    Speakers:

    Warren K. Racusin, Partner and Chair, Trusts & Estates
    Sharon L. Klein, EVP, President - Family Wealth, Eastern U.S. Region & Head of National Divorce Advisory Practice, Wilmington Trust, N.A.

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    27 mins
  • All in the Family: Succession Issues in Family-Owned Businesses
    Jul 23 2024

    On this episode of “Splitting Heirs,” Warren K. Racusin talks with Lowenstein partner Nick San Filippo, Chair of the firm’s Business Divorce practice, and Jeff Savlov, a partner in the family business and wealth consulting firm Blum & Savlov, about the challenges facing family-owned businesses when disputes arise between parents and children, siblings, or other relatives. Observing that an unwillingness to address uncomfortable issues about succession planning and the future of the business often leads to conflict when the matriarch or the patriarch passes away, San Filippo emphasizes the need for a clearly constructed shareholders’ agreement so that all parties are clear on governance, documentation, and succession issues: who will lead the business, how will owners get paid, how should distributions should be made out of the business to cover taxes or distribute profits? The lawyers also encourage families to review these documents periodically as life circumstances and priorities may evolve over time.

    Speakers:

    Warren K. Racusin, Partner and Chair, Trusts & Estates
    Nicholas San Filippo IV, Partner Co-chair, Business Divorce
    Jeff Savlov, Partner, Blum & Savlov

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    33 mins
  • Death and Dirt: Addressing the Injustices of the Past in Heirs Property
    Apr 30 2024

    Today on “Splitting Heirs,” host Warren Racusin speaks with Molefi McIntosh and Mavis Gragg about the “heirs’ property problem--” or what happens to real estate when it is passed down within families without benefit of a will. The guests address the historical and legal impact as well as the economic and racial inequities that resulted from the fractionalization of real estate down through multiple generations, as well as recent efforts to right the injustices of the past through such legislation as the Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act, and new technology that leverages data to clear title.

    Speakers:

    Warren K. Racusin, Partner and Chair, Trusts & Estates
    Molefi McIntosh, Associate, Private Client Services
    Mavis Gragg, Co-Founder, HeirShares

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    31 mins
  • The Divorce, the Innocent Spouse, and the $78,000 Mercedes
    Feb 27 2024

    Host Warren K. Racusin welcomes Melissa L. Wiley of Lowenstein’s Tax practice and Elie Honig, CNN senior legal analyst, former federal prosecutor, and special counsel in Lowenstein’s White Collar Criminal Defense practice, to the “Splitting Heirs” podcast to discuss the case of DeGuzman vs. the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, where a wealthy couple splits up and gets into a fight about responsibility for tax liability incurred during their marriage. The lawyers examine the concept of “the innocent spouse,” the differences between criminal tax fraud and civil tax fraud, how tax laws can be used to bring down organized crime bosses, (and why Hermes bags always seem to figure prominently in these kinds of cases).

    Speakers:

    Warren K. Racusin, Partner and Chair, Trusts & Estates
    Elie Honig, Special Counsel, White Collar Criminal Defense
    Melissa Wiley, Partner, Tax

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    32 mins
  • Home Is Where the Heart Is (and where the IRS will try to find you): Thinking of Living Abroad? Even ExPats May Have to Pay U.S. Taxes
    Oct 31 2023

    Unlike most countries in the world, if you are a citizen or resident of the United States, the government gets to tax all of your worldwide income, regardless of where it's earned or where you live. And if the IRS decides that your tax home is the US your family may get hit by an estate tax, even if you aren’t a citizen or resident. In this episode of "Splitting Heirs,” host Warren K. Racusin speaks with fellow partner Megan E. Wernke about international and cross-border tax planning, and the different obligations and documents required for individuals with assets or income in the U.S. but who are domiciled elsewhere; have renounced their U.S. citizenship completely; or who are considered non-resident aliens. 

    Speakers:

    Warren K. Racusin, Partner and Chair, Trusts & Estates
    Megan E. Wernke, Partner, Private Client Services

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    26 mins
  • The Sad Tale of Hubby and Lovey: Preparing One’s Estate for the Possibility of Divorce
    Jul 27 2023

    In this episode of “Splitting Heirs,” Warren K. Racusin, partner and Chair of Lowenstein’s Trusts & Estates practice, speaks with Sharon L. Klein, EVP, President - Family Wealth, Eastern U.S. Region & Head of National Divorce Advisory Practice, Wilmington Trust, N.A., about estate planning for divorcing couples, including  “grey divorce”—when couples in their 50s and older—often with significant assets—decide to go their separate ways. They address the importance of—before initiating divorce proceedings—reviewing all of one’s estate planning documents, including beneficiary designations, executors, trusts, and prenuptial agreements, to make sure that they reflect your current wishes, and they illustrate the dangers of failing to prepare for a split with examples of disastrous celebrity breakups.

    Speakers:

    Warren K. Racusin, Partner and Chair, Trusts & Estates
    Sharon L. Klein,  EVP, President - Family Wealth, Eastern U.S. Region & Head of National Divorce Advisory Practice, Wilmington Trust, N.A. 

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    30 mins