Since I know that I am going to be attacked for what I say about the Defender; here is a link:
http://www.blackjournalism.com/defender.htm Now, I found a story on the internet which tries to make this an estate tax thing, but that is pure political bullshit. That link (because I am fair) is http://www.homestead.com/northerncityjournal/files/vol01_25.html If you check the website out, it is a private opinion site with a religious and political bent. The odd facts are that I work in probate, estate planning and trusts, grew up in Chicago, sold the Defender, and have an avid interest in media (subscribe to CJR, WJR, Brill's Content) and have read the probate papers because this is a great case study in probate case law. There was a dispute within the family about control of the paper and the case dragged on in the Cook County probate Court because it was complex, involving such juicy items as family feuds, the law against perpetuities, and control of the African American paper passing out of the family into an institutional - and white owned- trustee, Northern Trust, which some family members filed in court to prevent, and then, change. Further, while the office in which I worked has never handled a probate estate where there has been payment of the federal estate tax, which shows the sparing nature of the tax, my employer, and former partner, the infamous Pete (and why did I ever break with a rich guy, dumb shit that I am), his parent's estates eventually ended with payment of the federal estate tax. Our office did not handle that estate because of course we had a vested interest but that is the only estate tax probate that we have been close to. And I can tell you that was ultimately taxed was a very small percentage of what the real assets were, thanks to trusts and other such devices of financial planning. (There are so many types of trusts available, from the old reliable Q-TIP to the new "special needs" trust where the legal fiction is the money is donated to a tax exempt foundation, which in fact does indeed eventually get the money.) And the family happily paid the estate tax considering the size of the corpus of the trust they finally got. What has not been considered in the estate tax debate is the role it plays in gifts to non profits. Without the tax benefits of gifts to non profit corporations to avoid the estate tax, a lot of those gifts would not get made. A lot of charitable contributions are tax motivated. Next time your local hospital or church or women's shelter or children's program runs a capital funds drive, next time you see a large gift to some charity, get close to the financial people involved and ask questions... a lot of charity in this country, the big bucks giving, is financial planning to avoid the estate tax and why do you think a real repeal of the estate tax has not happened? Because the non profits in this country prevailed enough in Congress to say, you trying to kill us? And what was the seeming repeal of the estate tax by the Republicans in 2001 was a temporary percentage annual phase out with a sunset provision so the estate tax returns in full force in 2011 or 2012. And what that means is that what the Congress and Bush did in 2001 was a great bonanza to financial planners and estate planning attorneys everywhere because the whole financial tax situation of a large estate will now depend on what you die in prior to 2011, or whether you make it to 2012. It made everything more complicated and has resulted in a whole new lucrative field of tax avoidance financial planning. And while I am surely no Republican, if anyone doubts the objectivity of this paragraph, you are invited to come with me next May to the Michigan state bar Estate Planning seminar at Acme, Michigan, where the nuances of the estate tax are of great fascination. This has been my most boring post ever, which is saying a lot. Anyone who has read this far, thank you. I tried to stay away from the whole thread and have been no where near as interesting as any one else, but probate/financial probate (and real estate) pays my salary which allows me to slum as a minister and Joni fan. However, it is very helpful as a minister since I can not only show you how to leave a portion of your estate to the church or other non profit of your choice in your will or trust., I can draft the damn thing up and set you down in front of the lawyer, as well as witness and notarize all your documents... and offer a prayer of thanksgiving afterwards... real full service... Vince > it was written: > > > The Chicago Daily Defender, one of the oldest black daily newspapers in the > > country, went into bankruptcy because of the burden imposed by the estate tax. > I replied: > > This simply is untrue. > > Totally untrue. > > The Defender has had a long struggle with financial problems, as have many African >American > papers, that had nothing to do with the estate tax. Gees. The ad base and >circulation bases > have been decreasing steadily because of the increased coverage of black communities >by > established "majority" papers. > > Plus, and this is very true in the Defender situation, the probate problems are very >complex, > many heirs, who has the controlling interest, long standing family problems, and >what was set > up in what trust, but the probate problems have nothing to do with the estate tax. >Nothing at > all. here is some of the text of the article: Chicago Daily Defender remains in Black hands The nation's most prestigious Black daily newspaper will apparently remain Black-owned. The heirs of longtime publisher John H. Sengstacke Sr., who died in 1997, have decided not to sell the newspaper to a white buyer, according to an article by Frederick H. Lowe in NABJ Update (February/March 1999). The Sengstacke family "will continue to own The Defender," said James H. Lowry, trustee of the Sengstacke estate. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thomas A. Hett named Mr. Lowry, trustee of the estate in February. He replaced Northern Trust Co., one of Chicago's largest banks, which had been corporate trustee of Mr. Sengstacke's estate since 1975. In Feb. 1998, Mr. Sengstacke's heirs petitioned the Cook County Circuit Court to remove Northern Trust as trustee, which led to Mr. Lowry's appointment one year later. During the year the estate's trusteeship was in limbo, Crain's Chicago Business reported that a Detroit businessman had offered to buy The Defender. Northern Trust spokesperson Sue Ragaes confirmed that the bank had received an offer for the newspaper, but was prevented from acting on the offer because of the court proceedings. Robert Sengstacke Abbot founded The Defender as a weekly in 1905 and built it into one of the nation's most successful Black-owned papers.
