Inside this Issue:

Anne M. Rudolph, Esq. and Ralph E. Hughes, Esq.
Tips of the Trade: North to Alaska for an Ante-Mortem Probate … 6
A handful of states other than California have enacted legislation expressly authorizing ante-mortem proceedings to validate a will, a trust, or both. This article summarizes the ante-mortem proceedings and discusses how a California practitioner might utilize them.

Richard S. Kinyon, Esq. and Kirsten Wolff, Esq.
The California Throwback Tax Applicable to Distributions of Previously Untaxed Accumulated Trust Income to California Resident Beneficiaries………………………………………………………….11
California is one of only a few states with a throwback tax—tax applicable to distributions of previously untaxed accumulated trust income. This article explains the rules for applying the tax and suggests a methodology for tracking accumulated income in non-California resident trusts.

Bruce Givner, Esq.
Grieve V. Commissioner: Death of the Minority Premium Model (Taxpayers Dodge a Bullet)…………………………………………………22
For years, the IRS has suggested a "minority premium model" for fractional interest valuation, which argues that premium (not a discount) would apply to a minority interest in an entity. This article explains the minority premium model and summarizes the recent case, Grieve v. Commissioner, in which the U.S. Tax Court rejected it.

Bryan L. Phipps, Esq.
Undue Influence: Pressure Brought to Bear Directly on the Burden of Proof……………………………………………………….25
Ask many trust and estate litigators and they will tell you that the burden of proof for invalidating a testamentary instrument on the basis of undue influence is "clear and convincing evidence." This article questions that and highlights an early California Supreme Court case appearing to hold that the burden of proof in undue influence cases should be the preponderance of the evidence applied on a sliding scale.