Plain-language updates on estate planning, business law, technology and AI, and the issues that affect Missourians — written to be useful, not billable.
Whatever you inherit, and however it passes, its value on the date of death generally becomes your tax basis. A date-of-death valuation belongs in every estate settlement, whether…
Read ArticleThe Missouri Attorney General filed two civil actions on October 7 under the Animal Care Facilities Act. What the statutes actually require, why a refused inspection changes the…
Read ArticleWhat the FCC fairness doctrine required, how it was used against critics, who ended it in 1987 and why, how its repeal shaped talk radio, cable news, and…
Read ArticleA Polk County man asked a co-worker how hot the fuel tanks outside his store would have to get to explode, then called it a joke. On October…
Read ArticleWhat the Laffer curve claimed, how it became the case for the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, and what Treasury, CBO, and Pew data show about its…
Read ArticleTwo alumni and four students sued Missouri officials on October 7 over decades of land-grant funding for Lincoln University. The federal matching statute, 7 U.S.C. 3222d, redistributes unmatched…
Read ArticleMissouri runs no private state prisons, yet for decades it billed prisoners for their own confinement, rented jail beds to federal agencies, and paid contractors billions. Here is…
Read ArticleStarting no later than January 1, 2027, Missouri will automatically expunge eligible drug possession and paraphernalia convictions under RSMo § 610.141. Here is what qualifies, what still requires…
Read ArticleSurcharging a debit or prepaid card is prohibited nationwide, and credit card surcharges in Missouri are lawful only within strict card-network rules and the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.…
Read ArticleIn Gude v. UMB Bank (WD87870, Oct. 6, 2026), the Western District affirmed judgment for a corporate trustee that sold Thomas Hart Benton artwork for decades without appraisals.…
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