With the exception of a spouse, beneficiaries of an IRA don’t have a lot of options when they inherit. Choices consist of receiving the funds in a lump sum or liquidation of the account over five years. That also means a spendthrift beneficiary can waste a parent’s hard-earned retirement income with disturbing ease.

Tolstoy said, “All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Since families and estates are so intertwined, Tolstoy’s maxim holds true in some degree for estate planning purposes. Many clients require customized estate planning – and clients with warring families have their own special needs and considerations.

Aggrieved parties have long been able to sue in federal court for copyright, patent, and trademark violations. Surprisingly, no corresponding private cause of action has existed for trade secret theft. Instead, trade secret cases were the domain of state courts.