Month: February 2012

Alabama Estates and the Impact of the Estate Tax Portability Provision

The Christian Science Monitor reports that there will be a substantial increase in the number of estate tax returns filed with the IRS this year. This is despite the fact that there will be fewer than 3,300 estates that will be required to pay federal taxes. The current state of the law encourages estates to file returns even if they do not owe any taxes to the federal government. The result: increased costs and an increased number of returns for the IRS to process. Why do these estates to continue to file returns? The answer lies in the details of the portability provision of the 2010 Tax Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act. This provision allows surviving spouses to claim on their own estate tax returns any exemption not used by their deceased spouses.

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Alabama School Bus Wreck Injures Dozens but Results in No Charges

A school bus driving down some back roads in Pike County, Alabama recently rolled over in a terrible accident that resulted in the injury of 41 students. According to a report by Valorie Lawson on WSFA.com, the single-vehicle accident took place at the intersection of County Road 2243 and County Road 2246, just a few miles from Goshen Elementary School in the morning before class. According to school officials, the bus was carrying 41 children when it wrecked and made a nearly three-quarter roll onto the driver's side. Responding emergency medical crews rushed 21 students by ambulance to Troy Regional Medical Center, while seven others were taken to Crenshaw Community Hospital in Luverne, Alabama. Thirteen additional students with less pressing injuries were taken to hospitals by another bus for medical treatment.

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