By Carrie

Editor’s Note: Carrie B. Cline is a member of the Trusts and Estates Practice Group at Ward and Smith, P.A. Prior to year-end 2010, President Obama signed into law “The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010” (“Act”). Among other things, the Act drastically changed the tax rules regarding the transfer of property by gift or at death for 2011 and 2012. This article summarizes portions of the Act and highlights planning opportunities that you should consider in light of these changes and the current economic environment. The Federal Transfer Tax Laws for 2011 and...

WASHINGTON – Turns out it really does take a rocket scientist to beat Watson, the “Jeopardy”-winning computer. U.S. Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey – a five-time champion during the trivia show’s original run 35 years ago – topped the IBM computer Monday night in a “Jeopardy”-style match of congressmen vs. machine held at a Washington hotel. Though Holt isn’t the first human to beat Watson, the victory adds to the 62-year-old Democrat’s already-impressive resume: a former State Department arms control expert and ex-leader of the federal Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. “I wonder if Watson wasn’t having a low-voltage...