A Matter of (Estimated) Life and Death — Calculating the Effect of the Overstatement of Mortality Under §7520 on Split-Interest Charitable Trusts

By Michael S. Strauss and Jerome M. Hesch* Strauss Malk & Feder LLP and Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone, LLP Northbook, IL and Boca Raton, FL

INTRODUCTION

In valuing the lead interest in a trust for the life of an individual, whether the lead interest is a fixed an-nuity or a unitrust percentage, §7520 does not consider the actual health of the individual who is the measuring life. Instead, §7520 assumes all individuals at any age will all have the same life expectancy using mortality tables based on actuarial assumptions that are now over 20 years out of date...

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