DAVID SHAPIRO: The unbearable anxieties of a US inheritance
The wealthy sometimes resort to desperate — and irrational — measures to avoid death duties
If there is one thing that strikes terror into the hearts and minds of the rich, it’s mention of the words “death duty”. The wealthy would rather live on a planet without oxygen than pay estate tax.
During December, a young client, who had inherited a sizeable sum of money from his grandfather’s estate, phoned frantically instructing me to liquidate his offshore portfolio and move the proceeds into a shelter set up by his investment adviser. Even though the transaction would trigger a hefty capital gains tax bill, the young man insisted that the mere prospect of paying situs was giving him sleepless nights...
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