Resource Search

Wealth planning for same-sex married couples presents a host of challenges, and the landscape is fluid. Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996, and President Bill Clinton signed the act into law the same year. The bill had two main functions. First, DOMA prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages for the purposes of federal laws or programs. Second, DOMA absolved individual states from having to legally acknowledge the relationships of gay and lesbian couples who were married in another state.

This article addresses some of the most important legal and tax issues the real property professional needs to know when representing foreign investors in the United States, as every aspect of involvement is different from those of a domestic purchaser.

Part of the Grow Your Business (GYB) series from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, this edition covers what private companies are doing to rethink their approach to risk against a backdrop of globalization, economic realignment, and rapid technological change.

Wealthy individuals need to play an active role in their wealth management, asking advisors the right questions and reviewing their answers regularly. This requires a solid understanding of wealth management principles and how to apply them in a variety of areas, ranging from personal tax planning to the transfer of a business.

Fears regarding the future of fiat currencies (e.g., the dollar and euro) have created surging demand for “alternative” currencies. Alternative currencies, such as gold and even the fledgling Bitcoin possess many of the required characteristics to serve as currencies, but limitations will likely prohibit attainment of currency status in the foreseeable future.

Regardless of the project scope, knowing the parties and defining parameters are essential to a successful relationship. Investors and developers alike should do their homework, protect themselves and have confidence in the structure of the deal.

The world is witnessing a major rebalancing of economic power. Once dominated by the G7 nations, it is today making room for a new and expanding set of rapidly growing economies. The citizens of emerging market countries, while comparatively poor on a per capita GDP basis, are being helped out of poverty by astounding rates of domestic economic growth. For some of the larger developing economies such as China and India, economic progress has catapulted them to a plane where they are able to compete side-by-side with the wealthiest and most advanced nations of the world.

Many wealthy families envision keeping a shared property in the family as a means of building family unity, harmony and legacy. A number of notable families have been successful at this, but many others find the reality creates the opposite of their intention.

This paper is a technical summary of some of the challenges facing the U.S. nonprofit museum community in regard to risk management of art ownership. It includes a summary of key events that has shaped the art market over the last 50 years as well as consideration of the effects of Sarbanes-Oxley and issues surrounding D&O insurance, where museums and art trustees are not typically protected against art market legal title risk.