A Cheap Year to Die

Author: Dustin Wetton
With a title like that, I am sure that you just want to know exactly what I am talking about. However, before I indulge into the meaning of the title, let me tell you what Laurus Law has been up to recently. Last week, I attended the San Diego County Bar Association Young Lawyer Division’s Mixer at the Grant Grille. This event was mostly for networking and updating the YNLD members of upcoming events that are occurring. I met many nice and friendly people at the event. On the next evening, Mei attended California Western School of Law Alumni’s event downtown. There, she was congratulated many times for recently being sworn in and for forming Laurus Law Group. I did not attend the event because I was at an Orange County Bar Association Summer Mixer up in Irvine. All of these events are quite enjoyable, and eventually I think we are going to have a competition in our firm to see which event is the “best event of the year.” Be sure to keep checking our blog for a rating system and rankings.
This week has been a bit calmer for us. We have scheduled meetings around town with various associations and attorneys. We have also started to get involved with the North County Bar Association and helping create a sort of YNLD up there. Mei and I have also signed up for Softball Leagues, separate leagues, and my first game was on last Monday. If you want to see some amazing softball, keep an eye out for future listings of our games.
Now…a cheap year to die. In an article in the New York Times on June 8, 2010, the first billionaire died in recent years without paying any tax. This is due to Congress’ failure to act and the estate tax lapse. Normally, when a person dies who has over a certain amount of money, the government takes a large portion of their estate in taxes. Our government started the estate tax in 1916, and since then the rates have fluctuated tremendously. Last year, if a person died with more than $3.5 million, all money exceeding that would be taxed at 45%. Yet under President Bush, he decided that part of his tax cuts, he would have the estate tax lapse and thus signed this years lapse into law. Therefore, the billionaire who recently passed in Texas was able to pass almost $9 billion dollars to his heirs tax free.

This lapse will only last until 2011, where the tax rate is to go up to 55%. Thus, the title of the blog, it’s a cheap year to die. While only 5,550 people are normally affected by this tax, if you fall into the category where you normally get an estate tax, this year would be a good year to die, if a person was to plan such a thing. See the article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/business/09estate.html?adxnnl=1&ref=homepage&src=me&adxnnlx=1276196939-uF4PNIv3hO3eyYQLNY3VLg

If you have any questions or comments on the blog, email us at: blog@lauruslaw.com.