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http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=95000587
Figure Boeken's lawyer is working for a one-third contingency, so he'll take $1 billion, leaving Boeken with $2 billion. Punitive damages are subject to income tax, at a top federal rate of 38.6% (after July 1) and a California rate of 9.3%. That cuts Boeken's $2 billion to $1.042 billion. And since he's unlikely to live to see the repeal of the death tax in 2010, his heirs will probably see just 45% of the remaining sum, or a paltry $468.9 million--less than one-sixth of the original $3 billion.
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