Apr 1, 2007 12:00 PM

By Herbert E. Nass, partner, Herbert E. Nass & Associates, New York

As a practicing trusts-and-estates attorney, I approached a book with a plot about an unusual bequest in a last will and testament and whose narrator was an 80-year-old “T&E” lawyer with great anticipation. Jim Stovall's short (154 page) novel, The Ultimate Gift, did not disappoint. Unfortunately, the book's film adaptation, just released in March, is another story. And it remains to be seen what comes of The Ultimate Gift Experience, a business launched by Stovall and the movie's financiers (most prominent among them, the Stanford Financial Group, an international private banking, trust and asset management firm.)

The Ultimate Gift — first published in 1999 and now put out by RiverOak Publishing,¹ a Christian publishing company — is the truly inspirational and universal story of the unusual instructions and bequest made by a deceased billionaire, Red Stevens, to his prodigal great nephew, Jason Stevens. Each month for a year, a prerecorded videotape has Red delivering those instructions posthumously. The process is managed by Red's longtime attorney, serving as executor of the will. As long as the spoiled and ungrateful Jason fulfills his great uncle's assignment each month, he's entitled to hear and take on the next installment in his year-long quest to obtain an unspecified inheritance. The plot is a happy cross between, George Orwell's classic 1984 about “Big Brother,” and Donald Trump's television show, The Apprentice.

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Topics of Interest

Estate Tax	Donor Advised Funds
GSTs	Family Offices
Private Foundations	Life Insurance
2010 Tax Act News	Industry Trends Surveys

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2011 Trust Glossary

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50 Years Ago This Month

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50 years ago, in May 1962, we featured articles such as: "Future of Canadian Trusteeship" by Arthur H. Mingay", "Training Trust Employees" by Ian M. Marr, "What is a Trust Officer?" by Eric J. Brown, and "Selling Services" by Donald I. Webb.

Conrad Teitell's Guide to Tax Benefits For Charitable Gifts

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