A universe is waiting: access estate planning knowledge and resources online. (Estate Planning).With the click of a button you can have instant access to a universe of knowledge and resources that is integral to your work as a tax and estate planning Estate Planning The overall planning of a person's wealth, including the preparation of a will and the planning of taxes after the individual's death. Notes: Contrary to popular belief, estate planning involves much more than preparing a will, and it is not only for the practitioner. However, accessing this universe can be daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin because of its magnitude and scope. Here are some reference points from which to start your search as well as Web sites that offer valuable resources for getting answers to your estates, trusts and estate planning questions. ASSOCIATION WEB SITES For information related to estate and trust issues, as well as estate planning questions, go to CaICPA's Estate Planning committee's Web forum at www.calcpaweb.org/webforum. Here practitioners can post questions to committee members or search online Q&A archives to find answers. The site is monitored daily and questions that are not responded to within a few hours are e-mailed to committee members for a response. It really is an excellent starting point. The AICPA AICPA See American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). , www.aicpa.org, has links to tax-related governmental sites and tax research services. Also, you can downloading practice guides on various tax topics, position papers and summaries of tax law changes. PRACTITIONER PAGES There are many estate planning practitioners who maintain Web sites featuring articles they have written and other information. San Francisco tax attorney Robert Sommers, known as The Tax Prophet, hosts www.taxprophet.com. This site not only has helpful articles on estate planning and abusive trusts but also contains an excellent links page under Cyber Surfing. Also based in San Francisco is the law firm Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro. Its Estate Planning Memorandum, www.pmstax.com/estate, which is another valuable resource for estate planning articles. GATEWAYS OPEN DOORS Gateways are the doors to a wealth of information on any particular subject matter. One gateway, www.estateplanninglinks.com, is a tremendous resource. Maintained by Dennis Toman to·man n. A gold coin formerly used in Persia worth 10,000 dinars. [Farsi t  m at Booth Harrington Johns & Toman, in Greensboro, N.C., this site features links to estate planning articles and associations. It also has links to other resources such as estate planning calculations, elderlaw, valuations, law and government, estate planning practice and technology, and life and long-term care insurance. The American Bar Association American Bar Association (ABA), voluntary organization of lawyers admitted to the bar of any state. Founded (1878) largely through the efforts of the Connecticut Bar Association, it is devoted to improving the administration of justice, seeking uniformity of law hosts its Legal Technology Resource Center, www.lawtechnology.orgllowlink. This site offers federal and state government links, Findlaw's Lawcrawler search engine, as well as legally oriented Web sites. A related site hosted by the ABA Tax Section, www.abanet.org/tax/site.html, has similar links, but focuses on tax law. Dennis Schmidt maintains the Tax and Accounting Sites Directory, www.taxsites.com, which is full of links for tax and accounting information, publications, federal and state governmental sites, rates and tables, tax and accounting associations, software vendors and more. SOFTWARE VENDORS Purveyors of tax and estate planning software not only maintain Web sites that contain information about their products, but also valuable information related to estate planning. A very informative site is maintained by Brentmark Software, www.rothira.com. Here you'll find articles regarding Roth IRAs as well as links to calculators and other IRA-related sites. Another Web site I recommend is Leimberg and LeClair, www.leimberg.com. This site is a good source for applicable federal rates, and it's full of links to other estate planning-related sites. TAX RESEARCH SITES Tax research service providers such as CCH CCH Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades (Spanish) CCH Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist CCH Cook County Hospital CCH Certified in Classical Homeopathy CCH Country Club Hills (Fairfax City, VA, USA) , www.cch.com; RIA (Rich Internet Application) A Web-based application that approaches the speed and elegance of a local application. An RIA may refer to a browser-based application that uses AJAX or another enhanced coding technique. , www.riahome.com; and BNA BNA Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. BNA Birds of North America BNA block numbering area (US Census) BNA British North America BNA Banco Nacional de Angola (National Bank of Angola) , www.bna.com have their full libraries available over the Internet, for about the price of a CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). . RIA even offers the Warren, Gorham & Lamont publications. CCH has an estate view program to help you present your estate plan in a professional and graphically enhanced way. AND DON'T FORGET The IRS An abbreviation for the Internal Revenue Service, a federal agency charged with the responsibility of administering and enforcing internal revenue laws. , www.irs.gov; Social Security Administration, www.ssa.gov; FTB FTB Franchise Tax Board (California; they collect income and sales tax) FTB Family Tax Benefit (Australian welfare assistance) FTB First Time Buyer (housing) , www.ftb.ca.gov; and State Controller's Office, www.sco.ca.gov, offer required forms, publications, contact information, legislative updates and links. The Social Security Administration's site has several calculators for estimating Social Security benefits. Last but not least are Danny Santucci's bookmarks at http://members.aol.com/sdcpa1/santucci/Websites.html. Santucci, a frequent California CPA (Computer Press Association, Landing, NJ) An earlier membership organization founded in 1983 that promoted excellence in computer journalism. Its annual awards honored outstanding examples in print, broadcast and electronic media. The CPA disbanded in 2000. Education Foundation lecturer, teaches a class on performing tax research over the Internet. His complete list of links covers a variety of topics--It's well worth a visit. John R. Woodford, CPA, a partner in the Grass Valley accounting firm o[Robertson & Woodford, is a member of Ca/CPA's Estate Planning Committee. You can reach him at john@abacus7.com. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion