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News & Insights

Heather J. Rhoades Named 2016 Hartford Trusts & Estates Attorney of the Year

May 2016

This recognition awards recipients based on their particularly high level of peer recognition in their respective practice area. 

Asset Protection or Abusive Tax Planning?

May 16, 2016

Former billionaires punished for using offshore trusts as "piggy banks" to defraud the IRS. “Never let a creditor get to your asset, no matter how bad your mistake.” 


Trusts & Estates Magazine Website

IRS "Rolls Over" Where Beneficiary Designation Overlooked

May 11, 2016

Without professional assistance, it’s easy for an individual to forego updating an essential element of their estate plan: beneficiary designations.


Trusts & Estates Magazine Website

The Legacy IRA: The Charitable IRA Rollover Part II

May 8, 2016

Retirees searching for income who also want to give to charity are drawn to charitable remainder trusts and charitable gift annuities. You get lifetime payouts, and the charity gets its share when you die. 


Forbes Magazine Website

New Federal Bill Authorizes Charitable Life-Income IRA Rollovers

May 5, 2016

A life-income charitable individual retirement account rollover bill (HR5171) (The Legacy IRA Act) has just been introduced this morning by House Ways and Means Committee members. 


Trusts & Estates Magazine Website

IRS Rules on Tax Consequences Associated with Early Termination of a Generation-Skipping Taxable Marital Trust

April 24, 2016

A surviving spouse was the beneficiary of two marital trusts established under her late husband’s revocable trust agreement.


Trusts & Estates Magazine Website

Improper Payments by Private Foundations

As Donald Trump learned the hard way, the consequences can be costly
March 28, 2016

A private foundation, it’s been said, is a large body of money surrounded by those who want some. But, to whom may a private foundation make contributions?


Trusts & Estates Magazine Website

Laura Weintraub Beck of Cummings & Lockwood Receives YWCA Greenwich BRAVA Award

February 4, 2016

Established in 1977, the YWCA Greenwich BRAVA Awards recognize outstanding women achievers who have excelled in their professional careers and who also volunteer their time and talent to help others.

Legal Underpinnings for Formulating (And Defending) Estate Plans

December 21, 2015

Finding your way through the tax law maze of authorities.  A U.S. Supreme Court Justice’s comment on an important criminal law rule is instructive.


Trusts & Estates Magazine

Defining Real Success

January-March 2016

How do you define success? For many companies, success is determined solely by monetary return, but for some progressive organizations, helping others is a critical factor when gauging the organization’s success.


Beyond The Gates Magazine

Cummings & Lockwood Announces the Addition of David M. Halpen to Its Private Clients Group in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

December 16, 2015

Mr. Halpen brings over twenty years of broad-based legal experience in trusts and estates planning, estate settlement, trust administration, business succession planning, and U.S. and international tax planning for a variety of high net worth clients.

Hedge Fund Managers Must Exercise Restraint in Deploying Indemnification Provisions

November 18, 2015

Indemnification provisions are the forbidden fruit in every hedge fund partnership agreement.


The Hedge Fund Law Report, Volume 8, Number 45