Tax planning for estates;

              Tax Plannin
for Estates
by Bernard M. Mulvey
Bernard M. Mulvey, our Director of Tax Re­search,
was with the Appellate Division of the In­ternal
Revenue Service before joining TRB&S. He
is responsible for the weekly Tax Letter and Tax
Research Files which emanate from the Executive
office, and has written numerous articles on taxation.
His most recent work, which appeared in the May
issue of TAXES, "Year of Sale Depreciation", will
be reprinted in the NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL
shortly.
A native of New York City, Mr. Mulvey received
his BS degree from New York University where he
majored in accounting, and an LLB from St. John's
University. He is presently completing his require­ments
for an LLM at New York University Gradu­ate
School of Law.
Mr. Mulvey is chairman of the Legislation and
Tax Reform Committee of the New York Univer­sity
Tax Society and is also a member of the Federal
Tax Forum.
Estate planning today has become a continuing life­time
proposition. An individual with wealth may face
estate tax problems whenever he is involved in a financial
or property transaction. His habits of gift-giving, his man­ner
of buying property, the way he solves his marital prob­lems—
all have estate tax consequences.
However, to say that tax consequences are omnipresent
is not to say that they should be the tail that wags the
dog. It is important to remember that the most important
factor in any estate plan remains the client's wishes for
the disposition of his money. Any sound estate plan must
be geared to the client and his particular economic and
personal situation. Tax considerations alone should never
dictate the disposition of an estate.
Tax planning should be undertaken only after what an
individual wishes to do with his money has been estab­lished.
While good tax plans must and do vary from in­dividual
to individual, there are certain basic tools used
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