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Recently, Melvin Simon, the founder of Simon Property Group (the largest mall operator in the United States) died. It was reported that his estate was valued at about one billion dollars. According to the Wall Street Journal, citing court filings, seven months before he died, he “altered his will during a three-hour meeting in Asherwood, his palatial home near Indianapolis. A financial adviser had to hold and guide his hand as he signed the revised document.”

I find that clients often use the terms “estate tax” and “inheritance tax” interchangeably. Usually, that isn’t a problem, and I know exactly what they are talking about. However, in New Jersey there really is a distinction between the “estate tax” and the “inheritance tax.” This is New Jersey, after all — so we have two taxes. Go figure!

In a unanimous decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled that the estate of a deceased spouse who died while her divorce matter was pending, was entitled to assert equitable claims against the surviving spouse. The case of Kay v. Kay, 405 N.J. Super 278 (App. Div. 2009), aff’d, ____ N.J. ___ (2010), was a logical extension of the Supreme Court’s decision in Carr v. Carr, 120 N.J. 336 (1990) and a rejection of the case of Kruzdlo v. Kruzdlo, 251 N.J. Super. 70 (Ch. Div. 1990).

Lost among all of the talk about Federal estate tax repeal, is one of the greatest opportunities that Congress has given to many of my clients in years — the uncapped Roth IRA conversion opportunity. Until 2010, a Traditional IRA could only be converted to a Roth IRA by a taxpayer with adjusted gross income of less than $100,000. However, starting this year, anyone can convert a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, regardless of the amount of adjusted gross income earned in the year. In analyzing the benefits of a Roth IRA conversion, I have found that most of my clients will achieve significant benefits from converting. Among the benefits achieved are: