Al Davis was an iconic figure in the world of professional football for half a century, and though there were those who weren’t especially enamored of his demeanor and tactics true fans of the sport have to respect the success he was able to achieve. Davis undoubtedly loved football and he was devoted to the Raiders. He presided over an AFL Championship team and after the AFL merged with the NFL the Raiders won the AFC four times on Davis’ watch as owner and on three of those occasions they went forward and captured the Super Bowl crown.
The world of sports collectively mourned on October 8 when Al Davis died at the age of 82. He had sold 20% of his stake in the Raiders a few years ago and retained a 47% interest. Forbes magazine estimates the value of the Raiders at approximately $761 million. If you do the math, Davis clearly had hundreds of millions of dollars in assets from his stake in the Raiders alone. The estate tax exclusion is just $5 million, so the entirety of his assets that exceeded this amount would potentially be subject to a 35% federal levy. This could force his family to sell its controlling share in the Raiders.
Given the passion that Al Davis had for his Raiders it is logical to assume that he would want to see the team remain in the family. Apparently he had a meticulous estate plan in place that will indeed allow his wife Carol and son Mark to continue operating the team.
The estate tax is always looming, and it is something to be aware of when you are planning for the future. If you want to make sure that your family can retain ownership of things that are important to you, take action right now and arrange for a consultation with a licensed, savvy estate planning attorney.
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