More Opposition to Pet Trusts
Recently, I presented an article by Christopher Caldwell here, that formulated a very different view regarding estate planning for pet owners.
From the very active and informative site of Professor Gerry W. Beyer, comes a new position by Ray D. Madoff (Professor of Law, Boston College Law School).
You can see the entire post here.
Professor Madoff states;
“There should be a limit — a dollar amount or a percentage of the estate — on the estate tax charitable deduction. People could still give to charity as they like, but after a point they would be giving after-tax dollars. The deduction should be lower for bequests to private foundations than for money given directly to good causes.”
In opposition to this position, Leslie Lenkowsky (Professor of Public Affairs and Philanthropic Studies, Indiana University), argues:
“Whatever one might think of her judgment in leaving the bulk of her estate to care for dogs, it was her money, and as the Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker wrote in his blog, "Respecting individual preferences, no matter how idiosyncratic, is one important measure of a free society, even when those tastes relate to bequests and inheritances."
Personal decisions for money usage or waste, tax avoidance or good planning, charitable use of money or beneficent ideas?
So what is estate planning for pets?
These issues will be discussed further on September 5, at a lunch session sponsored by the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy.
You can be assured that the debate on this issue and philosophy is just beginning.
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