Ew:
The WSJ and the WP report that the IRS is planning to shut down a truly macabre tax break known as a "ghoul trust." The gimmick? A lawyer for a rich person finds a young person who is expected to die within a few years and creates a trust in the name of the doomed person that then is used as a vehicle to give assets to others after the predicted death. Because of the actuarial rules used to calculate estate and gift taxes, a young "donor" means big tax savings. The WP says that lawyers and financial planners market these packages to customers complete with the name of a suitably seriously ill individual and access to his/her medical records.
From Slate's Today's Papers. Can't provide a link to the article because it needs a subscription.
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