Posted on 04/02/2005 5:44:06 AM PST by KidGlock
Files reveal Heinz Kerry wealth
PITTSBURGH — Sen. John Heinz III had about $423 million in cash, stocks, trusts and other property when he died in a 1991 plane crash, according to documents released Friday.
The estate of the Pennsylvania Republican — whose widow, Teresa, later married Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat — paid about $41 million in federal estate taxes and $17 million in state death taxes, the records show.
Judge Frank Lucchino had ruled in March that the law favored opening the records, which were sealed the day after Heinz, 52, an heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune, and six others died when the airplane carrying Heinz collided with a helicopter.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sought the will and 10 other documents when Kerry ran for president last year, saying they could shed light on his wife's charitable activities and indicate whether she used some of her inheritance to help his White House campaign.
NINE PERCENT inheritance tax? I didn't know that was in the federal tax code.
Actually, the estate taxes of $41 mil. seems low in comparison to the size of the estate. I wonder how he shielded the estate from higher taxes?
In the spirit of full disclosure, I think someone should track down the Kennedy money and how Joe's estate was set up to avoid estate taxes. I would be shocked if Teddy is not the beneficiary of some generation skipping trust set up to avoid estate taxes.
What a waste of money, Sen Heinz may as well have burned all that money up in a pit instead of giving it to a brainless puke like kerry and tereeza, not like he had a choice in the matter.
Dumb question here---as a wife, wouldn't Theresa be a co-owner of his assets??? Why did she have to inherit the estate?
It is low.
That's my point.
In 1991, IIRC the inheritance tax was over 50 percent. Why aren't the liberal rich paying their fair share?
This is probably because money left by a husband to a wife was not subject to estate tax in 1991. There should not have been any tax at all.
The problem must have been with the trusts, which are separate legal entities.
Moral of the story, at least for us smaller fish, is to die broke, and have the last check that you write bounce!
I believe assets owned jointly are not taxed.
So it would make you happy if they paid more taxes to the government?
Don't you just love a judiciary that protects candidates until AFTER the election?
It doesn't matter how the assets were owned. There was simply no estate tax between husband and wife. They called it the 'unlimited marital exemption'. Just so long as you leave all your money to your spouse, you're home free.
And if the spouse subsequently married, the money could be passed on tax-free again.
"I'm glad I'm broke so the relatives won't have anything to fight over when I die."
--my favorite aunt
John F'n follows the Shiavo story with great interest.
GOOD!
But they did pay $41 million in estate taxes. What was that for?
Porbably the trusts. They are a separate legal entity, and were not part of John Heinz' personal wealth.
They were probably a 'tax shelter', that is, a tax-deferral scheme. But eventually, the deferral runs out, particularly if there is an unexpected, premature death.
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