There are pros and cons to charitable trusts

SECURE Act has Changed Special Needs Planning

January 11, 2021

The SECURE Act has changed Special Needs Planning. The SECURE Act eliminated the life expectancy payout for inherited IRAs for most people, but it also preserved the life expectancy option for five classes of eligible beneficiaries, referred to as “EDBs” in a recent article from Morningstar.com titled “Providing for Disabled Beneficiaries After the SECURE Act.” Two categories that are considered EDBs are disabled individuals and chronically ill individuals. Estate planning needs to be structured to take advantage of this option.

The first step is to determine if the individual would be considered disabled or chronically ill within the specific definition of the SECURE Act, which uses almost the same definition as that used by the Social Security Administration to determine eligibility for SS disability benefits.

A person is deemed to be “chronically ill” if they are unable to perform at least two activities of daily living or if they require substantial supervision because of cognitive impairment. A licensed healthcare practitioner certifies this status, typically used when a person enters a nursing home and files a long-term health insurance claim.

However, if the disabled or ill person receives any kind of medical care, subsidized housing or benefits under Medicaid or any government programs that are means-tested, an inheritance will disqualify them from receiving these benefits. They will typically need to spend down the inheritance (or have a court authorized trust created to hold the inheritance), which is likely not what the IRA owner had in mind.

Typically, a family member wishing to leave an inheritance to a disabled person leaves the inheritance to a Supplemental Needs Trust or SNT. This allows the individual to continue to receive benefits but can pay for things not covered by the programs, like eyeglasses, dental care, or vacations. However, does the SNT receive the same life expectancy payout treatment as an IRA?

Thanks to a special provision in the SECURE Act that applies only to the disabled and the chronically ill, a SNT that pays nothing to anyone other than the EDB can use the life expectancy payout. The SECURE Act calls this trust an “Applicable Multi-Beneficiary Trust,” or AMBT.

For other types of EDB, like a surviving spouse, the individual must be named either as the sole beneficiary or, if a trust is used, must be the sole beneficiary of a conduit trust to qualify for the life expectancy payout. Under a conduit trust, all distributions from the inherited IRA or other retirement plan must be paid out to the individual more or less as received during their lifetime. However, the SECURE Act removes that requirement for trusts created for the disabled or chronically ill.

However, not all of the SECURE Act’s impact on special needs planning is smooth sailing. The AMBT must provide that nothing may be paid from the trust to anyone but the disabled individual while they are living. What if the required minimum distribution from the inheritance is higher than what the beneficiary needs for any given year? Let’s say the trustee must withdraw an RMD of $60,000, but the disabled person’s needs are only $20,000? The trust is left with $40,000 of gross income, and there is nowhere for the balance of the gross income to go.

In the past, SNTs included a provision that allowed the trustee to pass excess income to other family members and deduct the amount as distributable net income, shifting the tax liability to family members who might be in a lower tax bracket than the trust.

The SECURE Act has changed Special Needs Planning, but these changes can be addressed by an experienced estate planning attorney.

If you would like to learn more about the SECURE Act, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Morningstar.com (Dec. 9, 2020) “Providing for Disabled Beneficiaries After the SECURE Act”

Should a GRAT Be Part of Your Estate Plan?

December 21, 2020

A Grantor-Retained Annuity Trust, or GRAT, is funded by the grantor, the person who creates the trust, in exchange for a stream of annuity payments at a predetermined interest rate—the IRS Section 7520 rate. The interest rate in December 2020 is 0.6%, as reported in the article “Transferring Wealth With This Trust Can Yield Big Tax Advantages” from Financial Advisor. Should a GRAT be part of your estate plan?

GRAT assets need only appreciate greater than the Section 7520 rate over the term of the trust, and any excess earnings will pass to beneficiaries, or to an ongoing trust for beneficiaries with no gift or estate tax.

Because the grantor takes back the amount equal to that which was transferred to the trust (often two or three years), which is set by the IRS when the trust is funded, future appreciation over and above the interest rate passes gift-tax free.

There’s little upkeep. Once the trust agreement is in place, a gift tax return needs to be filed once a year. If the trust is set up without a tax ID number, there’s no need to file an income tax return.

The grantor is responsible for the income generated by the asset in the GRAT, but that’s it. If the value of the property is increased following an audit, the gift won’t be increased but the annuity will. If the GRAT property decreases in value, the only out of pocket is the set-up costs.

Assets in a GRAT may be anything from an investment portfolio to shares in a closely held business.

Most GRATs are designed to have the value of the retained annuity be equal to the value of the property that is transferred to the GRAT. If the values are equal, then the amount of the gift for tax purposes is zero, since the value of the transfer less the annuity value is zero.

GRATs are not for everyone. The success of the GRAT depends upon the success of the underlying assets. If they don’t appreciate as expected, then there might not be a significant amount transferred out of the estate after paying for the legal, accounting and appraisal fees. If the grantor dies during the term of the GRAT before payments back to the grantor have ended, the GRAT will be unsuccessful.

Generation skipping transfers cannot utilize GRATS, since the generation skipping tax exemption may not be applied to a GRAT, until the grantor’s death.

Ask your estate planning attorney about whether a GRAT should be a part of your estate plan. If a GRAT is not a good fit, they will know about many other tools available.

If you would like to learn more about how GRATS can play a role in your estate planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Financial Advisor (Nov. 30, 2020) “Transferring Wealth With This Trust Can Yield Big Tax Advantages”

Probate can affect Real Estate Transactions

December 7, 2020

Probate can affect real estate transactions. For a family whose 91-year-old mother lives in her home, has a will and has appointed two sisters as Power of Attorney and executors of her estate, the question of handling the transfer of the home is explored in a recent article from the Herald Tribune, “Transfer title now or go through probate in the future?”

The family wasn’t sure if it made more sense to transfer the title to her two daughters and son while she was still living, or let the children handle the transfer as part of the estate. The brother may wish to purchase the home after the mother passes, as he lives with his mother.

If nothing is done, the house will be part of the probated estate. A case will have to be opened, a representative will be appointed by the court (usually the executor of the will) and then the executor can sell assets in the estate, close accounts and deal with the IRS and the Social Security Administration. The probate process can be time-consuming and expensive, depending on where the mother lives.

There are a number of steps that could be taken to simplify things. The mom’s assets can be held jointly, so they pass to the surviving owner, or a trust can be created, and her assets be titled to the trust, so they pass automatically to beneficiaries.

The issue of the house becomes a little more complicated because there are so many options. This is where probate can affect real estate transactions. If the house has appreciated significantly over the years, keeping it in the estate will minimize taxes that have to be paid if and when it is sold.

For example, let’s say the house has increased in value by $250,000. Under current tax law, the mother can exclude up to $250,000 in profits from the sale of the home. This is the exclusion before the sale of a primary residence where the owner has lived in the home for two out of the last five years.

If she signs a quitclaim deed now to give the home to her three children, the IRS will consider this a gift to the three children. Her cost basis in the property (what she paid for the home, plus the cost of any material or structural improvements) will be transferred to the children. However, when the children go to sell the property, they won’t have that same $250,000 exclusion. The three siblings will have to pay federal income or capital gains tax on the same of the home.

However, if the home remains in the mother’s estate when she passes, the siblings inherit the home at the stepped-up basis. In other words, the value of the house (for estate tax purposes) will rise to the current market value at the time of her death, and not the value when she paid for the house. If the children decide to sell the house immediately, there won’t be any profit and there won’t be any taxes.

Depending on the state’s probate laws, the children might be able to use a transfer on death deed that would let the property transfer automatically to heirs upon the mother’s death. The siblings then inherit the property at the stepped-up value.

Here’s another question to consider: how does the cost of setting up trusts and transfer on death deeds compare to the estimated cost of probating the estate?

This family, and others in the same situation, should speak with an estate planning attorney to evaluate their options. The siblings in this case need to clarify whether their brother wants to buy the house and if he is able to do so. The mom then needs to make a decision, while she is still able to do so, because after all, it’s still her home.

If you would like to learn more about how to protect the family home for future generations, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Herald-Tribune (Nov. 7, 2020) “Transfer title now or go through probate in the future?”

Failing To Put Assets Into Trusts

November 23, 2020

Failing to put assets into trusts creates headaches for heirs and probate hassles, says the article “Once You Create a Living Trust, Don’t Forget to Fund It” from Kiplinger. It’s the last step of creating an estate plan that often gets forgotten, much to the dismay of heirs and estate planning attorneys.

Are people so relieved when their estate plan is finished, that they forget to cross the last “t” and dot the last “i”? Could be! Retitling accounts is not something we do on a regular basis, and it does take time to get done. However, without this last step, the entire estate plan can be doomed.

Here are the steps that need to be competed:

Check the deeds on all real estate property. If the intention of your estate plan is to place your primary residence, vacation home, timeshare or rental properties into the trust, all deeds need to be updated. The property is being moved from your ownership to the ownership of the trust, and the title must reflect that. If at some point you refinanced a home, the lender may have asked you to remove the name of the trust for purposes of financing the loan. In that case, you need to change the deed back into the name of the trust. If your estate planning attorney wasn’t part of that transaction, they won’t know about this extra step. Check all deeds to be certain.

Review financial statements. Gather bank statements, brokerage statements and any financial accounts. Confirm that any of the accounts you want to be owned by the trust are titled correctly. You may need to contact the institutions to make sure that the titles on the statements are correct. If there is no reference to the trust at all, then the account has not been recorded correctly and changes need to be made.

It’s also a good idea to review any accounts with named beneficiaries. Talk with your estate planning attorney about whether these accounts should be retitled. The rules regarding beneficiaries for annuities changed a few years ago, so naming the trust as a beneficiary might not work for your estate plan or your tax planning goals as it did in the past.

IRAs and other retirement accounts. These accounts need to be treated on an individual basis when deciding if they should have a trust listed as a primary or contingent beneficiary. Listing a trust as a beneficiary can, in some cases, accelerate income tax due on the account. If the trust is listed as the beneficiary, the ability to distribute assets to trust beneficiaries may be impacted.

The main reason to list a trust as a beneficiary to an IRA or retirement plan is to protect the asset from creditors, financially reckless heirs, or a beneficiary with special needs. An estate planning attorney will know the correct way to handle this.

Making sure that you put your assets into a trust takes a little time, but it is up to the owner of the trust to take care of this final detail. The estate planning attorney may provide you with written directions, but unless you make specific arrangements with the office, they will expect you to take care of this. The assets don’t move themselves – you’ll need to make it happen.

If you would like to learn more about funding a trust, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Kiplinger (Oct. 26, 2020) “Once You Create a Living Trust, Don’t Forget to Fund It”

The Responsibilities of a Trustee

November 19, 2020

Before accepting the role of a trustee, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the responsibilities of a trustee. Trustees are often appointed to manage trust assets for a child or adult with special needs. This responsibility could be for a lifetime, so be sure that you are up for the task. Trustee duties are outlined in a recent article, “Things a Trustee needs to know,” from InsuranceNewsNet.com.

When the person who set up the trust, known as the “grantor,” dies, the trustee is in charge of settling the trust. That includes tasks like:

1–Locating and reviewing all of the documents of the grantor, especially any funeral and burial instructions.

2–If the grantor owned a home or an apartment, changing the locks for security, notifying the homeowner’s insurance company, if the house will be unoccupied for an extended period of time, and checking on auto insurance policies, if there are cars or other vehicles.

3–The trustee needs to obtain multiple originals of the death certificate, unless the executor is taking care of this task. These are usually ordered by the funeral director.

4–Listing all assets with the Date of Death (DOD) values of any assets. This determines the “cost basis” of assets that are to be transferred to beneficiaries. If assets are later sold and used to distribute proceeds, the cost-basis is used to determine income tax liability.

5–Consolidate multiple financial accounts into one account. The check register will become a register of trust activities and beneficiaries may inspect it. The trustee’s first responsibility is to protect the trust’s funds.

6–Pay outstanding bills and debts. The trustee may be personally liable, so it is their responsibility if this is not handled correctly.

7–Meet with an estate planning attorney to determine if the trust must file income tax returns or if the estate of the grantor must file income tax returns.

8–File claims for life insurance, IRAs and annuities.

9–Create an accounting for all trust financial activity from the grantor’s DOD to be distributed to the beneficiaries.

10–Transfer assets to beneficiaries according to the terms of the trust and have an estate planning attorney send each beneficiary a receipt, release and waiver for any further responsibility and liability.

The responsibilities of a trustee are similar to the responsibilities of an executor, except that wills are used in probate court and trusts are created to avoid probate court. Another benefit of trusts is that they can help avoid litigation between beneficiaries and keep the estate’s affairs private.

If you would like to learn more about the role of a trustee, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: InsuranceNewsNet.com (Oct. 19, 2020) “Things a Trustee needs to know”

Special needs plans need require regular reviews

Special Needs Plans Need Regular Reviews

November 16, 2020

Special needs plans need regular reviews and updates to be effective. For creating a wholly new plan or reviewing an older plan, one way to start is by writing a biography of a loved one with special needs, recommends the article “Special needs plan should be carefully considered” from The News-Enterprise.

Write down the person’s name, birth date and their age at the time of writing. Include information about favorite activities, closest friends and favorite places. Consider all of the things they like and dislike. Make detailed notes about relationships with family members, including any household pets. Think of it as creating a guide to your loved one for someone who has never met them. This guide will be useful in mapping out a plan that will best suit their needs.

Follow this by writing down what you envision for their future, in three distinct scenarios. A good future, where you are able to care for them, a not-so-great future where they are alive and well, but you are not present in their life and a bad future. You should be as specific as possible. This exercise will provide you with a clear sense of what pitfalls may occur, so you and your estate planning attorney can plan better.

Your plan needs to consider who will become the person’s guardian. You’ll need to list more than one person and put their names in order of preference. Consider the possibility that the first person may not wish to or be able to serve as a guardian and have second and third guardians. Talk to each person to be sure they are willing and able to take on this responsibility.

Next, consider living arrangements. Will your loved one be able to live independently, with regular check ins? Could they live in an accessory apartment with a guardian close at hand? Or would they need to live in a group care facility with an on-site social worker?

Special needs plans usually include a Special Needs Trust (SNT), with comprehensive details for the trustee. Just as you need multiple guardians, you should also name several trustees. The guardian is responsible for a person and the trustee is responsible for the property.

The question is raised whether a family member or a professional should be the trustee. Having a family member manage the finances is not always the best idea. A professional fiduciary will be able to manage the funds without the emotional ties that could cloud their ability to make good decisions. This is especially important, if the beneficiary has a drug dependency problem, does not have a strong family network or if the estate is large.

Consideration should also be given to having the trustee check in on the beneficiary on a regular basis to ensure that the beneficiary’s needs are being met. The trustee should have permission to make decisions about the use of the trust funds in special circumstances. The trustee will need to be someone who is skilled with managing money and is well-organized and responsible.

Special needs plans need regular reviews, but careful planning will give you the peace of mind of knowing that your loved one will be cared for by people you choose and trust.

If you would like to read more about special needs planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: The News Enterprise (Oct. 13, 2020) “Special needs plan should be carefully considered”

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How Important Is Avoiding Probate?

October 27, 2020

Estate planning attorneys are often asked if one of the goals of an estate plan is to avoid probate, regardless of the cost. The answer to that question is no, but a better question is “How important is avoiding probate?” In that case, the answer is “It depends.” A closer look at this question is provided in the recent article from The Daily Sentinel, “Estate Planning: Is Probate Something to Avoid at All Costs?”

Probate is not always a nightmare, depending upon where a decedent lived. Probate is a court process conducted by judges, who usually understand the difficulty executors and families are facing, and their support staff who genuinely care about the families involved. This is not everywhere, but your estate planning attorney will know what your local probate court is like. With that in mind, there are certain pitfalls to probate and there are situations where avoiding probate does make sense for your family.

In the case where it makes sense to avoid probate, whatever planning strategy is being used to avoid probate must be carefully evaluated. Does it make sense, or does it create further issues? Here’s an example of how this can backfire. A person provided their estate planning attorney with a copy of a beneficiary deed, which is a deed that transfers property to a designated person (called a “grantee”) immediately upon the death of the person who signed the deed (called a “grantor”).

The deed had been signed and recorded properly with the recorder’s office, just as a typical deed would be during the sale of a home. Note that a beneficiary deed does not transfer the title of ownership, until the grantor dies.

Here’s where things went bad. No one knew about the beneficiary deed, except for the grantor and the grantee. The remainder of the estate plan did not mention anything about the beneficiary deed. When the grantor died, ownership of the property was transferred to the grantee. However, the will contained conflicting instructions about the property and who was to inherit it.

Instead of avoiding probate, the grantor’s estate was tied up in court for more than a year. The family was torn apart, and the costs to resolve the matter were substantial.

Had the deceased simply relied upon the probate process or coordinated the transfer of ownership with his estate planning attorney, the intended person would have received the property and the family would have been spared the cost and stress. Sticking with the use of a last will and testament and the probate process would have protected everyone involved.

An experienced estate planning attorney can help determine the best approach for the family, whether that is avoiding probate or not. If you would like to learn more about probate and trust administration, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: The Daily Sentinel (Oct. 3, 2020) “Estate Planning: Is Probate Something to Avoid at All Costs?”

How Do I Keep Money in the Family?

October 26, 2020

That seems like an awfully large amount of money. You might think only the super wealthy need to worry about estate planning, but you’d be wrong to think planning is only necessary for the 1%. So how do I keep money in the family?

US News and World Report’s recent article entitled “5 Estate Planning Tips to Keep Your Money in the Family” reminds us that estate taxes may be only part of it. In many cases, there are income tax ramifications.

Your heirs may have to pay federal income taxes on retirement accounts. Some states also have their own estate taxes. You also want to make certain that your assets are transferred to the right people. Speaking with an experienced estate planning attorney is the best way to sort through complex issues surrounding estate planning. When trying to keep money in the family, here are some things you should cover:

Create a Will. This is a basic first step. However, 68% of Americans don’t take it. Many of those who don’t have a will (about a third) say it’s because they don’t have enough assets to make it worthwhile. This is not true. Without a will, your estate is governed by state law and will be divided in probate court. Ask an experienced estate planning attorney to help you draft a will. You should also review it on a regular basis because laws and family situations can change.

Review Your Beneficiaries. Perhaps the simplest way to keep money in the family. There are specific types of accounts, like retirement funds and life insurance in which the owners designate the beneficiaries, rather than this asset passing via the will. The named beneficiaries will also supersede any directions for the accounts in your will. Like your will, review your account beneficiaries after any major life change.

Consider a Trust. Ask an experienced estate planning attorney about a trust for possible tax benefits and the ability to control when a beneficiary gets their money (after they graduate college or only for a first home, for example). If money is put in an irrevocable trust, the assets no longer belong to you. Instead, they belong to the trust. That money can’t be subject to estate taxes. In addition, a trust isn’t subject to probate, which keeps it private.

Convert to Roth’s. If you have a traditional 401(k) or IRA account, it will help keep money in the family, but it might unintentionally create a hefty tax bill for your heirs. When your children inherit an IRA, they inherit the income tax liability that goes with it. Regular income tax must be paid on distributions from all traditional retirement accounts. In the past, non-spousal heirs, such as children could “stretch” those distributions over their lifetime to reduce the total amount of taxes due. However, now the account must be completely liquidated within 10 years after the death of the owner. If the account balance is substantial, it could necessitate major distributions that may be taxed at a higher rate. To avoid leaving beneficiaries with a large tax bill, you can gradually convert traditional accounts to Roth accounts that have tax-free distributions. The amount converted will be taxable on your income taxes, so the objective is to limit each year’s conversion, so it doesn’t move you into a higher tax bracket.

Make Gifts While You’re Alive. A great way to make certain that your money stays in the family, is to just give it to your heirs while you’re alive. The IRS allows individuals to give up to $15,000 per person per year in gifts. If you’re concerned about your estate being taxable, these gifts can decrease its value, and the money is tax-free for recipients.

Charitable Donations. You can also reduce your estate value, by making charitable donations. Ask an experienced estate planning attorney about setting up a donor-advised fund, instead of making a one-time gift. This would give you an immediate tax deduction for money deposited in the fund and then let you make charitable grants over time. You could designate a child or grandchild as a successor in managing the fund.

Complicated strategies and a constantly changing tax code can make keeping money in the family feel intimidating. However, ignoring estate planning can be a costly mistake for your heirs. Talk to an estate planning attorney. If you would like to learn more about estate tax planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: US News and World Report (Sep. 30, 2020) “5 Estate Planning Tips to Keep Your Money in the Family”

Your Estate Plan May Need an Audit

October 22, 2020

You should have an estate plan because every state has statutes that describe how your assets are managed, and who benefits if you don’t have a will. Most people want to have more say about who and how their assets are managed, so they draft estate planning documents that match their objectives. If you created an estate plan years – or even decades ago – your estate plan may need an audit.

Forbes’ recent article entitled “Auditing Your Estate Plan” says the first question is what are your estate planning objectives? Almost everyone wants to have financial security and the satisfaction of knowing how their assets will be properly managed. Therefore, these are often the most common objectives. However, some people also want to also promote the financial and personal growth of their families, provide for social and cultural objectives by giving to charity and other goals. To help you with deciding on your objectives and priorities, here are some of the most common objectives:

Making sure a surviving spouse or family is financially OK
Providing for others
Providing now for your children and later
Saving now on income taxes
Saving on estate and gift taxes in the future
Donating to charity
Having a trusted agency manage my assets, if I am incapacitated
Having money for my children’s education
Having retirement income; and
Shielding my assets from creditors.

Speak with an experienced estate planning attorney about the way in which you should handle your assets. If your plan doesn’t meet your objectives, your estate plan should be revised. This estate planning audit will include a review of your will, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare proxies, beneficiary designation forms and real property titles.

Note that joint accounts, pay on death (POD) accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, annuities and other assets will transfer to your heirs by the way you designate your beneficiaries on those accounts. Any assets in a trust won’t go through probate. “Irrevocable” trusts may protect assets from the claims of creditors and possibly long-term care costs, if properly drafted and funded.

Another question is what happens in the event you become mentally or physically incapacitated and who will see to your financial and medical affairs. Use a power of attorney to name a person to act as your agent in these situations.

If you have decided that your estate plan needs an audit and you find that your plans need to be revised, follow these steps:

Work with an experienced estate planning attorney to create a plan based on your objectives
Draft and execute a will and other estate planning documents customized to your plan
Correctly title your assets and complete your beneficiary designations
Create and fund trusts
Draft and sign powers of attorney, in the event of your incapacity
Draft and sign documents for ownership interest in businesses, intellectual property, artwork and real estate
Discuss the consequences of implementing your plan with an experienced estate planning attorney; and
Review your plan regularly.

To learn more about estate planning documents such as a trust or will, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Forbes (Sep. 23, 2020) “Auditing Your Estate Plan”

What is a GRAT and Does Your Family Need One?

October 19, 2020

What is a GRAT and does your family need one? It is a technique where an individual creates an irrevocable trust and transfers assets into the trust to benefit children or other beneficiaries. However, unlike other irrevocable trusts, the grantor retains an annuity interest for a number of years.

As a result of the low interest rate environment, some families may have a federal estate tax problem and need planning to reduce their tax liability. A Grantor Retained Annuity Trust, known as a GRAT, is one type of planning strategy, as described in the article “Estate planning with grantor retained annuity trust” from This Week Community News.

Here’s an example. Let’s say a person owns a stock of a closely held business worth $800,000. Their estate planning attorney creates a ten-year GRAT for them. The person transfers preferably non-voting stock in the closely held business to the GRAT, in exchange for the GRAT paying the person an annuity amount to the individual who established the GRAT for ten years.

The annuity amount payment means the GRAT pays the individual a set percentage of the amount of the initial assets contributed to the GRAT over the course of the ten-year period.

Let’s say the percentage is a straight ten percent payout every year. The amount paid to the individual would be $80,000. At the end of the five-year period, the grantor would have already received an amount back equal to the entire amount of the initial transfer of assets to the GRAT, plus interest.

At the end of the ten-year term, the asset in the trust transfers to the individual’s beneficiaries. If the GRAT has grown greater than 1%, then the beneficiaries also receive the growth. The GRAT makes the annuity payment with the distribution of earnings received from the closely held business, which is likely to be an S-Corp or a limited liability company taxed as a partnership. Assuming the distribution received is greater than the annuity payment, the GRAT uses cash assets to make the annuity payment. For the planning to work, the business must make enough distributions to the GRAT for it to make the annuity payment, or the GRAT has to return stock to the individual who established the GRAT.

There are pitfalls. If the individual dies before the term of the GRAT ends, the entire value of the assets is includable in the estate’s assets and the technique will not have achieved any tax benefits.

If the plan works, however, the stock and all of the growth of the stock will have been successfully removed out of the individual’s estate and the family could save as much as 40% of the value of the stock, or $320,000, using the example above.

It is possible to structure the entire transaction, so there is no gift tax consequence to the grantor. If the person is concerned about estate taxes or the possible change in the federal estate tax exemption, which is due to sunset in 2026, then a GRAT could be an excellent part of your family’s plan. When the current estate tax exemption ends, it may return from $11.58 million to $5 or $6 million. It could even be lower than that, depending on political and financial circumstances. Planning now for changes in the future is something to consider and discuss with your estate planning attorney.

If you like to learn more about various types of trusts, and how they work, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: This Week Community News (Sep. 6, 2020) “Estate planning with grantor retained annuity trust”

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