The 7520 rate for September 2017 is 2.4%.

The September 2017 Applicable Federal Interest Rates can be found here.

Due to the devastation and upheaval caused by Hurricane Harvey, the Internal Revenue Service is providing extra time for certain individuals and businesses to file their returns and pay taxes.  Among the relief provided is a new January 31, 2018 filing deadline for individual taxpayers who have valid extensions until October 16 and businesses which have extensions until September 15.  According to IR-2017-135:

“The IRS is now offering this expanded relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as qualifying for individual assistance. Currently, 18 counties are eligible, but taxpayers in localities added later to the disaster area will automatically receive the same filing and payment relief.”

The IRS has set up a landing page to assist victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Update: The IRS has extended similar relief to victims of Hurricane Irma.  

Originally posted on Bryan Cave Fiduciary Litigation

Undue influence occurs when a person’s free will is overpowered and replaced by the will of another.  In Missouri, a finding of undue influence generally requires the person who exerted influence to have been in a position of trust, and to have caused the coercion through active conduct.  Although the elements seem fairly straightforward, actually proving undue influence can be much trickier.  Because undue influence is often only demonstrated through circumstantial evidence, the ensuing courtroom testimony provides for a telling tale from lawyers and hairstylists and priests.

In Nestel v. Rohach, three of the four Nestel siblings tried to remove their sister, Melissa, as the personal representative of their mother’s estate.  The siblings claimed that Melissa exercised undue influence over Joanne, their mother, when Joanne made Melissa the beneficiary of several bank accounts

Congratulations to Kathleen Sherby of Bryan Cave’s Private Client Services team for her “Lifetime Achiever” recognition by Marquis Who’s Who:

“Supported by more than 40 years of professional experience, Ms. Sherby serves as a partner with Bryan Cave LLP, where she started in 1976 as an associate. In addition to her work with the firm, she lends her services to her community through the Saint Louis Science Center, where she has served on the board of trustees since 2010. Over the years, she has also worked with her community in various board positions for the Junior League in Saint Louis, the Bequest and Gift Council of Saint Louis University, the Clayton Education Foundation, and the bi-state chapter of the American Red Cross.”

Congratulations to the attorneys at Bryan Cave who made the 2018 “Best Lawyers in America” List, including the following members of our Private Client Services team:

Kimberly E. Civins (Atlanta)

William Linkous Jr. (Atlanta)

Renee M. Gabbard (Irvine)

Shannon K. Barks (Kansas City)

B. John Readey III (Kansas City)

Lawrence Brody (St. Louis)

Stephen B. Daiker (St. Louis)

John D. Schaperkotter (St. Louis)

Kathleen R. Sherby (St. Louis)

Douglas J. Stanley (St. Louis)

Shannon K. Barks of our Kansas City office was also recognized as a “Lawyer of the Year“.

Legal 500 has recognized Bryan Cave’s Non Profit / Tax Exempt Organizations practice group as one of the best in the country.

The 7520 rate for August 2017 has increased to 2.4%.

The August 2017 Applicable Federal Interest Rates can be found here.

In a long-awaited move, the IRS announced recently that taxpayers will now have at least two years to file an estate tax return to elect portability of a decedent’s unused estate tax exemption to the decedent’s surviving spouse.

The new rule was articulated by the IRS in Revenue Procedure 2017-34 and became effective as of June 9, 2017.  Under this new two year filing window, which the IRS characterizes as a “simplified method for certain taxpayers to obtain an extension of time  . . . to make a ‘portability’ election”, a decedent’s estate will have until the later of January 2, 2018 or the second anniversary of the decedent’s death to file an estate tax return to elect portability.  In order to take advantage of this simplified method for obtaining an extension of

The 7520 rate for July 2017 has decreased to 2.2%.

The July 2017 Applicable Federal Interest Rates can be found here.

In light of this week’s $448 million lottery jackpot – the 7th largest in Powerball history – the following is a re-posting of our blog entry from January 12, 2016.  If you ever do hit it big, make sure to do everything you can to avoid the “curse of the lottery.”

With up to $1.4 Billion at stake in Wednesday’s Powerball, those who play the lottery are busy making plans for what to do with all the money they may win.  If you win it, you won’t ever have to worry about money again – right?