“a Murphy's law and the Ss} laws of estate planning Sixth in a series on Estate Planning by Peter Maughan, WSC Development Officer -_ . ne of the hundreds of interesting Wolaries to Murphy’s Law (you Smember Murphy, he said, ‘‘anything Toh can go wrong, will’’) goes nthing like this: ‘‘Everyone has a ieme for getting rich that will not Inthese times when it costs 20 is to borrow a dollar at the time tsame dollar is depreciating by 14 isayear, another corollary could flbe, “a penny saved penny Icst’? — that unless you’ve been doing some NMniny . Conrad Teitell, a nationally known iter, lecturer, and authority on fate planning, who recently ducted a seminar in Ogden, has C jour taxable estate. Unless there is s)muper planning, a large insurance of |ipilicy could increase rather than decrease the estate tax liability of the } omer of the policy. That means your spouse gets less. One way to avoid this is for the owner (the person on ghom the policy is written) to transfer “pmership to someone else, usually the ) gouse. If the transfer is made at least -) thee years before death, the proceeds 7} ifthe policy won’t be included as part ithe estate. If a policy having a large ) sh value is given to a spouse, there ; | my be a present value gift tax, but it wtainly will be much lower than the state tax at the time of the death. ) Onthe subject of wills, Conrad 7 Titel advises that both husband and wie should each have a current will, J tspecially when there are young _ W thildren in the family. Single persons should also have a will so that 7 property will go to intended the ~ V \aeficiaries and not be decided by will 7} Gate through laws of intestacy. A 7 should be coordinated with the total , | estate planning effort to include life 7) insurance, jointly held property, __} amployee retirement benefits, social d} scurity and needed trusts. Any — g rs tharitable or tax free personal gifts "wuld be established at the same time. } Holographic (completely ) handwritten) wills are valid in the } state of Utah. However, a word as ‘simple as a misplaced ‘‘and”’ or “‘or’’ | may completely change a will’s | meaning. As a result, it is usually wise toemploy the services of an attorney _ 110 draw a will. The relatively small fee W financial advisor, or an attorney may also be named as a co-executor to assist in managing the estate assets. According to Teitell, there are a number of new ways to make gifts of money or property. Under the Tax Reform Act of 1976, Congress revised some of the law written in 1969. There was no change in the annual gift allowance. It is still possible for one person to give $3,000 each year (or $6,000 from both spouses) to as many people as you wish. They do not have These were replaced by the unified tax St e sizeable proportion, a bank, a sstates that insurance payments wived by a beneficiary are not taxed Whinsurance policy may be included in - of a will. However, if the estate is of ulvice. On the subject of life insurance |Bincome, but they are subject to 7 slate taxes. That is, the money from >/a safe place - easy to find. A spouse may be named as executor to be family members to be recipients. The previous lifetime gift allowance of $30,000 per person was eliminated as Anaume interesting estate planning 4, copy should be in your home - in a hvolved could save hundreds or even ‘Y thousands of dollars due to Murphy’s } law mistakes made by an erring 7 author. Finally, keep a current copy of 7 jour will where it can be found quickly. The original may be left in a ‘safe deposit box or with your attorney orin some other secure place, but one was the $60,000 estate tax exemption. credit. Basically this states that credits taken for gift taxes reduce the amount of credits available for use against the estate tax. That is, the unified credit of $47,000 offsets any taxes up to the 32 percent rate. The highest rate, 70 percent, for transfers above $5 million, is a problem few of us will have. Another aspect is the change in the marital deduction. A spouse may pass property of up to $250,000, or one half of the adjusted gross estate, whichever is greater, to - the other spouse - before taxes are imposed. Teitell also advises the use of charitable gifts (in this case we 7 Campus Clips The movement to ‘“‘emancipate”’ women is one of the big ones in world history, Dr. Neila Seshachari, associate professor of English at WSC, asserted in a noon “Brown Bagger” lecture for students and faculty. Bloodless and undramatic compared with most other revolutions, it still is trying to change the pattern of life from patriarchy to a workable mid-point between that and matriarchy, she said. The final goal is something like a cooperative equilibrium. One of the special problems in this ‘great social revolution which is coming whether you like it or not,” is that most women love the source—man—from which she wants to become liberated and she can’t rebel in the traditional fashion. Stereotypes of what the women’s role should be are the big predicament faced by modern women and they should be attacked with patience and common sense, she said. The dilemma of women today is being caught between two worlds—the worlds of work and of the home—she said. | A grant of $84,262 has been received from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to continue the community action program in Ogden City and Weber County during the 1981 calendar year. Weber State coordinates and shares in the program with the Ogden and Weber school districts recommend they be made to Weber State College) to significantly lower individual tax liability and to aid worthwhile institutions. In many situations, a unitrust or annunity trust may be established which will provide and Ogden City, utilizing neighborhood citizen councils interested in improving local government and school operations. The grant is the third in a five year effort to improve grass-roots participation in local government. eliminate income and estate taxes and Over the five year span, the Mott Foundation plans to contribute approximately $580,000, with contributions from the income to the donor, reduce or eliminate capital gains tax on appreciated property. In certain cases, income to the donor from a charitable trust could be greater than that which participating units expected to was received before the property was bring the total amount in five years to about $1.2 million. Teitell emphasizes that there are us placed in the turst. many other rules, regulations and changes that may affect your estate planning. Every individual should consult his or her own advisor as to how the law applies in each particular case. You may even find a way to get rich that will work. You will also find, with proper counsel, that the effects of Murphy’s Law on your estate plan may be sharply reduced or even eliminated. You may lower your taxes, ease inflation’s burden upon you and your heirs, pass more of your assets to your spouse and children, and even help provide better educational opportunities through a charitable gift to higher education at Weber State College by acting today to prepare for the future. Ethics is an important aspect in building any business, Edward M. Jenkins, president, Christensen Diamond Products Co. of Salt Lake City, told WSC business students. Mr. Jenkins said that ethics can be especially important in difficult times like the present. Put in simple terms, he said business ethics amounts to not lying to anyone, including employees, customers, competitors or associates. Four Indonesian educators visited the WSC campus for a seven week stay as part of their national government’s effort to improve education in its elementary and secondary schools, Dr. Blaine Parkinson, dean of the Weber State College School of Education, said. The four were Joseph Daniel Parera, group leader and secretary of the department of languages at the teacher training college (IKP) in Jakarta; Endi Nurgana, lecturer in the department of mathematics at IKP Bandung; Sunaryo, lecturer and assistant dean of the faculty of social science and education at IKP Malang, and Ahmad Badawi, lecturer in psychology, counseling and education at IKP Yogyakarta. Dean Parkinson said their central interest — was in competency-based teacher education. While at WSC they studied and served as adjunct faculty in the handling of CBTE modules. Each will develop a CBTE module of his own which may be. used on his return to Indonesia. Dean Parkinson was involved as one of the planners of the enterprise following an extended visit last year to Indonesia. He called the involvement of Weber State a significant recognition. as The Weber State College debate team, riding high after placing first at the Southern Utah Invitational a week ago, continued its winning ways by bringing back the second place sweepstakes award from California State University-Northridge Forensics Invitational held over the weekend in Los Angeles. Competition was among 38 colleges and universities. Senior Rick Starnes placed the team by winning first in oratory, second in oral interpretation of literature, and third in duo interpretation of literature with partner Tom Cowan. Sophomore Bill McGaha was a finalist in impromptu speaking, his first attempt in that event. Three WSC debaters were recognized for being among the top 10 speakers in the championship division of debate. Sophomore Jill Niederhauser was ranked fifth, sophomore David Allen seventh, and freshman Wayne Alldredge tenth in the top speaker award competition. Alldredge and Niederhauser placed third in championship division debate, while Allen and partner Steve Wimmer place fourth. Freshman Jackie Gardner and Karen McCracken, competing in their third college tournament, placed fourth in novice debate.