The Taxation of Distributions from Qualified Employee Benefit Plans

One of the most confusing aspects of employee benefit plans is the federal tax treatment of distributions to the participants of these plans and to the beneficiaries of deceased participants. The issues frequently involve not only income taxation, but estate and gift taxation as well. While the average practitioner may never be called upon to draft a pension or profit-sharing plan, he may be asked by his client about the consequences of the various alternative methods of receiving a benefit from such a plan. Many employee benefit plans, particularly profit-sharing plans, offer a participant upon his retirement from the plan or upon his separation from employment a choice of a lump sum distribution, installment payments or some form of annuity. A participant\u27s choice will affect his tax liability, and the wrong advice to the client may be costly. The attorney who does not specialize in the area of employee benefit plans may also discover that in drafting a will or establishing an estate plan some knowledge of the tax treatment of distributions from these plans is necessary. As more employees participate in employee benefit plans, and as more employees are faced with a choice as to the method of distribution at retirement, the attorney can expect more requests for advice in this matter

The Uniform Custodial Trust Act: An Alternative to Adult Guardianship

The problems associated with court appointed guardianship are axiomatic. The public nature of the court proceeding required for appointment of a guardian is of concern to many families who become involved in the process. The expense and delay associated with the original hearing, as well as subsequent hearings that may be necessary in the operation of the guardianship, are also a great disadvantage of guardianship. As a means of managing property, guardianship is cumbersome, expensive and inflexible. Recently, stories of the expense and potential abuse of guardianship for adults have found their way into the popular press. While most people think of guardianship as relating solely to minors or people adjudicated as mentally incompetent, guardianship may also be necessary for adults who suffer from functional incapacity below a level that would justify a formal adjudication of mental incapacity

Annual Survey of Virginia Law: The Virginia Limited Liability Company Act

Since the passage of the sixteenth amendment\u27 in 1913 and the income tax legislation adopted thereunder, the development of new forms of business entities has been driven largely by the desire to harmonize two goals: limited liability for the owners of the entity and pass-through treatment of the entity for income tax purposes