Strategies to minimize Taxes on Trusts

October 25, 2023

Dealing with trusts and the tax implications for those who create them, and their beneficiaries can seem confusing. Nevertheless, with the help of an experienced estate planning attorney, those issues can be managed, according to a recent article, “5 Taxes You Might Owe If You Have a Trust,” from Yahoo! Finance. There are strategies to minimize taxes on trusts.

Trusts are legal entities used for various estate planning and financial purposes. There are three key roles: the grantor, or the person establishing the trust; the trustee, who manages the trust assets; and the beneficiary, the person or persons who receive assets from the trust.

Trusts work by transferring ownership of assets from the grantor to the trust. By separating the legal ownership, specific instructions in the trust documents can be created regarding using and distributing the assets. The trustee’s job is to manage and administer the trust according to the grantor’s wishes, as written in the trust document.

Trusts offer control, privacy, and tax benefits, so they are widely used in estate planning.

There are two primary types of trusts: revocable and irrevocable. Revocable trusts are adjustable trusts that allow the grantor to make changes or even cancel during their lifetime. They avoid the probate process, which can be time-consuming and expensive, especially if assets are owned in different states. However, the revocable trust doesn’t offer as many tax benefits as the irrevocable trust.

Think of irrevocable trusts as a “locked box.” Once assets are placed in the trust, the trust can’t be changed or ended without the beneficiary’s consent. In some states, irrevocable trusts can be “decanted” or moved into another irrevocable trust, requiring the help of an experienced estate planning attorney. However, irrevocable trusts are not treated as part of the grantor’s taxable estate, making them an ideal strategy for reducing tax liabilities and shielding assets from creditors.

Trust distributions are the assets or income passed from the trust to beneficiaries. They can be in the form of cash, stocks, real estate, or other assets. For instance, if a trust owns a rental property, the monthly rental property generated by the property could be distributed to the trust’s beneficiaries.

Do beneficiaries pay taxes on distributions from the principal of the trust? Not generally. If you receive a distribution from the trust principal, it is not usually considered taxable. However, the trust itself may owe taxes on any income it generates, including interest, dividends, or rental income. The trust typically pays these before distributions are made to beneficiaries.

It gets a little complicated when beneficiaries receive distributions of trust income. In many cases, the income is taxable to the beneficiaries at their own individual tax rates. This can create a sizable tax wallop if you are in your peak earnings years.

There are strategies to minimize taxes on your trust. One approach is to structure trust distribution with a Charitable Remainder Trust, where income goes to a charity for a set number of years, and the remaining assets are then distributed to beneficiaries. An estate planning attorney will be a valuable resource, so grantors can achieve their goals and beneficiaries aren’t subject to overly burdensome taxes. If you would like to learn more about tax planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Yahoo! Finance (Sep. 27, 2023) “5 Taxes You Might Owe If You Have a Trust”

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What Type of Trust is best for You?

September 19, 2023

You are beginning the estate planning process. Great! When discussing your situation with your estate planning attorney, you will hear about trusts. But what type of trust is best for you? Fortune’s recent article, “Understanding trusts: An important estate planning tool for everyday Americans,” gives a concise run-down of all of the various types of trusts.

AB Trust. Also called a credit shelter or bypass trust, this trust is used by married couples to get the most benefit from estate tax exemptions. An AB trust is two trusts. The easiest way to remember them is that the A trust is for the person “above ground,” and the B trust belongs to the person “below ground.” Assets up to the annual estate tax exemption are put in the B trust to avoid estate taxes and usually pass to the couple’s children (“bypassing” the spouse). The remaining assets are placed in the surviving spouse’s A trust. When the surviving spouse dies, assets in both trusts pass to the designated beneficiaries.

An AB trust may be best for highly affluent married couples with large estates wanting to max out their estate tax exemptions.

Charitable Trust. This trust can benefit three parties: you, the grantor, your beneficiaries, and a charitable cause. They come in two types—charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts. They still have one thing in common: the benefiting charity must be a qualifying organization per Internal Revenue Service guidelines. A charitable remainder trust is a type of irrevocable trust that provides income for you or your beneficiaries during your lifetime. You typically will move highly-appreciated assets into the trust, which the trust then sells—avoiding capital gains taxes—to create the income stream. After your death, the remaining assets in the trust are distributed to one or more charitable causes. A charitable lead trust is an irrevocable trust that’s the opposite of a charitable remainder trust. It first benefits the charitable beneficiaries of your choice during your lifetime. When you die, the remaining assets are distributed to your beneficiaries. A charitable lead trust can be funded during your lifetime or when you die through instructions in your will. A charitable trust may be best for individuals with highly appreciated assets, like stocks, that can be used to help meet philanthropic goals during or after their lifetimes.

Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT). A GRAT is an irrevocable trust generally used by the wealthy to reduce tax implications for their beneficiaries. You transfer assets into the trust that are expected to appreciate over time and specify the term for which you’ll receive an annuity payment based on those assets. Once the GRAT’s term expires, the assets and any appreciation of those assets in the trust will pass to your beneficiaries with little to no estate tax burden. A GRAT may be best for wealthy individuals who want to help family members avoid paying estate taxes on their inheritance.

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT). Putting life insurance into a trust is a strategy the wealthy use to cover several fronts. You fund an irrevocable trust using one or several life insurance policies. When you die, the payouts from those policies typically avoid estate taxes but can be used to pay for things like state estate taxes and funeral expenses. The funds in the trust can help avoid the need to liquidate assets to meet these financial needs. An ILIT may be best for people who expect to pay state estate taxes and want to protect life insurance policies from creditors or divorce.

Special Needs Trust. This trust can help provide long-term care for a loved one with physical or mental disabilities who’s under age 65. The big benefit of special needs trusts is that assets held in them don’t affect their eligibility for Social Security and Medicaid benefits. There are three types of special needs trusts. Therefore, it is important to create one with an attorney specializing in special needs trusts. This trust may be best for those with mentally or physically disabled family members.

Figuring out what type of trust is best for you really comes down to the type of assets you have, and how you want to manage and pass down those assets when you pass. If you would like to read more about the different types of trusts, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Fortune (June 9, 2023) “Understanding trusts: An important estate planning tool for everyday Americans”

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The Estate of The Union Season 2|Episode 11

The Estate of The Union Season 2|Episode 8 is out now!

May 25, 2023

The Estate of The Union Season 2|Episode 8 is out now!

Homelessness is not going away. How we manage it can be frustrating and sometimes seems futile. It’s not. In Homeless But Not Hopeless, Brad and Alan Graham, the founder and CEO of Mobile Loaves and Fishes have a lively conversation on what he, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, and their Community First! Village program are doing to improve the lives of the homeless, and improve our city too.

If you’ve ever wondered about what to do when approached by a homeless person at an intersection, Alan has an answer for that too!

If you would like to learn more about how to volunteer or donate to Mobile Loaves and Fishes or Community First! Village, please visit mlf.org

In each episode of The Estate of The Union podcast, host and lawyer Brad Wiewel will give valuable insights into the confusing world of estate planning, making an often daunting subject easier to understand. It is Estate Planning Made Simple! The Estate of The Union Season 2|Episode 8 is out now! The episode can be found on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcasts. If you would prefer to watch the video version, please visit our YouTube page. Please click on the links below to listen to or watch the new installment of The Estate of The Union podcast. We hope you enjoy it.

Texas Trust Law focuses its practice exclusively in the area of wills, probate, estate planning, asset protection, and special needs planning. Brad Wiewel is Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. We provide estate planning services, asset protection planning, business planning, and retirement exit strategies.

Tax Scams Involving Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts

May 22, 2023

If you are a wealthy family looking into estate planning, beware of tax scams involving Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts. The IRS has issued a warning about promoters aiming specifically at wealthy taxpayers, advises a recent article, “IRS Warns Of Tax Scams That Target Wealthy,” from Financial Advisor. Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts (CRATs) are irrevocable trusts that allow individuals to donate assets to charity and draw annual income for life or for a fixed period. A CRAT pays a dollar amount each year, and the IRS examines these trusts to ensure they correctly report trust income and distributions to beneficiaries. Of course, tax documents must also be filed properly.

Some sophisticated scammers boast of the benefits of using CRATs to eliminate ordinary income or capital gain on the sale of the property. However, property with a fair market value over its basis is transferred to the CRAT, the IRS explains, and taxpayers may wrongly claim the transfer of the property to the CRAT, resulting in an increase in basis to fair market value, as if the property had been sold to the trust.

The CRAT then sells the property but needs to recognize the gain due to the claimed step-up in basis. The CRAT then purchases a single premium immediate annuity with the proceeds from the property sale. This is a misapplication of tax rules. The taxpayer or beneficiary may not treat the remaining portion as an excluding portion representing a return of investment for which no tax is due.

In another scam, abusive monetized installment sales, thieves find taxpayers seeking to defer the recognition of gain at the sale of appreciated property. They facilitate a purported monetized installment sale for the taxpayer for a fee. These sales occur when an intermediary purchase appreciated property from a seller in exchange for an installment note, which typically provides interest payments only, with the principal paid at the end of the term.

The seller gets the larger share of the proceeds but improperly delays recognition of gain on the appreciated property until the final payment on the installment note, often years later.

Anyone who pressures an investor to invest quickly, guarantees high returns or tax-free income, or says they can eliminate taxes using installment sales, trusts, or other means, should be dismissed immediately. Beware of tax scams involving Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts. Your estate planning attorney is well-versed in how CRATs, LLCs, S Corps, trusts, or charitable donations are used and will steer you and your assets into legal, proper investment strategies. If you would like to learn more about charitable giving, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Financial Advisor (April 24, 203) “IRS Warns Of Tax Scams That Target Wealthy”

Protect the Family Business for the Next Generation

December 6, 2022

The reality and finality of death is uncomfortable to think about. However, people need to plan for death, unless they want to leave their families a mess instead of a blessing. In a family-owned business, this is especially vital, according to a recent article, “All in the Family—Transition Strategies for Family Businesses” from Bloomberg Law. There are strategies you can use to protect the family business for the next generation.

The family business is often the family’s largest financial asset. The business owner typically doesn’t have much liquidity outside of the business itself. Federal estate taxes upon death need special consideration. Every person has an estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax exemption of $12.06 million, although these historically high levels may revert to prior levels in 2026. The amount exceeding the exemption may be taxed at 40%, making planning critical.

Assuming an estate tax liability is created upon the death of the business owner, how will the family pay the tax? If the spouse survives the business owner, they can use the unlimited marital deduction to defer federal estate tax liabilities, until the survivor dies. If no advance planning has been done prior to the death of the first spouse to die, it would be wise to address it while the surviving spouse is still living.

Certain provisions in the tax code may mitigate or prevent the need to sell the business to raise funds to pay the estate tax. One law allows the executor to pay part or all of the estate tax due over 15 years (Section 6166), provided certain conditions are met. This may be appropriate. However, it is a weighty burden for an extended period of time. Planning in advance would be better.

Business owners with a charitable inclination could use charitable trusts or entities as part of a tax-efficient business transition plan. This includes the Charitable Remainder Trust, or CRT. If the business owner transfers equity interest in the business to a CRT before a liquidity event, no capital gains would be generated on the sale of the business, since the CRT is generally exempt from federal income tax. Income from the sale would be deferred and recognized, since the CRT made distributions to the business owner according to the terms of the trust.

At the end of the term, the CRT’s remaining assets would pass to the selected charitable remainderman, which might be a family-established and managed private foundation.

Family businesses usually appreciate over time, so owners need to plan to shift equity out of the taxable estate. One option is to use a combination of gifting and selling business interests to an intentionally defective grantor trust. Any appreciation after the date of transfer may be excluded from the taxable estate upon death for purposes of determining federal estate tax liabilities.

For some business owners, establishing their business as a family limited partnership or limited liability company makes the most sense. Over time, they may sell or gift part of the interest to the next generation, subject to the discounts available for a transfer. An appraiser will need to be hired to issue a valuation report on the transferred interests in order to claim any possible discounts after recapitalizing the ownership interest.

The ultimate disposition of the family business is one of the biggest decisions a business owner must make, and there’s only one chance to get it right. Consult with an experienced estate planning attorney and don’t procrastinate in protecting the family business for the next generation. Succession planning takes time, so the sooner the process begins, the better. If you would like to learn more about succession planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Bloomberg Law (Nov. 9, 2022) “All in the Family—Transition Strategies for Family Businesses”

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The Estate of The Union Season 2|Episode 4 is out now!

November 29, 2022

The Estate of The Union Season 2|Episode 4 – How To Give Yourself a Charitable Gift is out now!

This is the time of the year when people feel most inclined to provide donations to organizations and charities that mean something to them. The saying goes that “Charity Begins at Home”, but sometimes you can give money to charity and bring it back home too – No Kidding!

In this episode, Brad Wiewel discusses charitable donations and how you can use “give and get” techniques to turn those donations into income and tax deductions for yourself. Just in time for the holiday season. You do not want to miss this one! These are complex estate and tax matters, requiring the guidance of an experienced estate planning attorney for optimal results. If you would like to learn more about charitable giving in your estate planning, please visit our previous posts.

In each episode of The Estate of The Union podcast, host and lawyer Brad Wiewel will give valuable insights into the confusing world of estate planning, making an often daunting subject easier to understand. It is Estate Planning Made Simple! The Estate of The Union Season 2|Episode 4 – How To Give Yourself a Charitable Gift can be found on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcasts. If you would prefer to watch the video version, please visit our YouTube page. Please click on the link below to listen to the new installment of The Estate of The Union podcast. We hope you enjoy it.

Minimizing Taxes should be a Part of your Plan

June 15, 2022

Let’s get this out of the way: preparing for death doesn’t mean it will come sooner. Quite the opposite is true. Most people find preparing and completing their estate plan leads to a sense of relief. They know if and when any of life’s unexpected events occur, like incapacity or death, they have done what was necessary to prepare, for themselves and their loved ones. Minimizing taxes should be a part of your plan.

It’s a worthwhile task, says the recent article titled “Preparing for the certainties in life: death and taxes” from Cleveland Jewish News and doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Some attorneys use questionnaires to gather information to be brought into the office for the first meeting, while others use secure online portals to gather information. Then, the estate planning attorney and you will have a friendly, candid discussion of your wishes and what decisions need to be made.

Several roles need to be filled. The executor carries out the instructions in the will. A guardian is in charge of minor children, in the event both parents die. A person named as your attorney in fact (or agent) in your Power of Attorney (POA) will be in charge of the business side of your life. A POA can be as broad or limited as you wish, from managing one bank account to pay household expenses to handling everything. A Health Care Proxy is used to appoint your health care agent to have access to your medical information and speak with your health care providers, if you are unable to.

Your estate plan can be designed to minimize probate. Probate is the process where the court reviews your will to ensure its validity, approves the person you appoint to be executor and allows the administration of your estate to go forward.

Depending on your jurisdiction, probate can be a long, costly and stressful process. In Ohio, the law requires probate to be open for at least six months after the date of death, even if your estate dots every “i” and crosses every “t.”

Part of the estate planning process is reviewing assets to see how and if they might be taken out of your probate estate. This may involve creating trusts, legal entities to own property and allow for easier distribution to heirs. Charitable donations might become part of your plan, using other types of trusts to make donations, while preserving assets or creating an income stream for loved ones.

Minimizing taxes should be a part of your estate plan. While the federal estate tax exemption right now is historically high $12.06 million per person, on January 1, 2025, it drops to $5.49 million adjusted for inflation. While 2025 may seem like a long way off, if your estate plan is being done now, you might not see it again for three or five years. Planning for this lowered number makes sense.

Reviewing an estate plan should take place every three to five years to keep up with changes in the law, including the lowered estate tax. Large events in your family also need to prompt a review—trigger events like marriage, death, birth, divorce and the sale of a business or a home. If you would like to read more about taxes and their influence of estate planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Cleveland Jewish News (May 13, 2022) “Preparing for the certainties in life: death and taxes”

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Maximize the Benefits of a Trust Fund

April 21, 2022

To maximize the benefits of a trust fund, you’ll need to understand how trusts funds work and how to create a trust fund the right way, advises this recent article from Yahoo! Money titled “How to Start a Trust Fund the Easy Way.” You don’t have to be a millionaire to start a trust fund, by the way. “Regular” people benefit just as much as millionaires from using trusts to protect assets and minimize taxes.

A trust fund is an independent legal entity created to own assets and ensure money and property are used to benefit loved ones. They are commonly used to transfer assets to family members.

Trust funds are created by grantors, the person who sets up the trust and transfers money or assets into it. An experienced estate planning attorney will be essential, since creating a trust is not like going to the bank and opening an account. You need the assistance of a professional who can create a trust to reflect your wishes and comply with your state’s laws.

When assets are moved into a trust, the trust becomes the legal owner of the property. Part of creating the trust is naming a trustee, who manages the trust and is legally bound to follow the wishes of the trust following the grantor’s wishes. A successor trustee should always be named, in case the primary trustee becomes unwilling to serve or dies.

Subject to compliance with specific requirements, assets owned by an irrevocable trust are not countable towards Medicaid, if someone in the family needs long-term care and is concerned about qualifying. Any transfer must be done at least five years in advance of applying for Medicaid. An elder law attorney can help in preparation for this application and to ensure eligibility. This is a very complex area of law. Do not attempt it alone without the assistance of an elder law attorney.

Trusts can have a long or short life. Some trusts are held for a child until the child reaches age 25, while others are structured to distribute a portion of the assets throughout the beneficiary’s lifetime or when the beneficiary reaches certain milestones, such as finishing college, starting a family, etc.

A revocable trust allows the grantor to have the most control over the assets in the trust, but at a cost. The revocable trust may be changed at any time, and property can be moved in and out of it. However, the assets are available to creditors and are countable towards long-term care because they are in the control of the grantor.

The irrevocable trust requires the grantor to give up control, in exchange for the benefits the trust provides.

There are as many types of trusts as there are situations for trusts. Charitable Remainder Trusts reduce estate taxes and allow beneficiaries to receive an income stream for a designated period of time, at the end of which the remainder of the trust’s assets go to the charity. Special Needs Trusts are created for disabled persons who are receiving means-tested government benefits. There are strict rules about SNTs, so speak with an experienced estate planning attorney to ensure that your loved one continues to be eligible, if you want them to receive assets from you.

Trusts are often used so assets will pass through the trust and not through the probate process. Assets owned by a trust pass directly to beneficiaries and information about the assets does not become part of the public record, which is part of what occurs during the probate process.

Your estate planning attorney will help you maximize the benefits of a trust fund, achieve your specific wishes and are in compliance with your state’s laws. A boilerplate template could present more problems than it solves. For trusts, the experienced professional is the best option. If you would like to learn more about the benefits of a trust, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Yahoo! Money (March 18, 2022) “How to Start a Trust Fund the Easy Way”

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Alternatives to replace Stretch IRA

March 28, 2022

The idea of leaving a large inheritance to loved ones is a dream for some parents. However, without careful planning, heirs may end up with a large tax bill. When Congress passed the SECURE Act in December 2019, one of the changes was the end of the stretch IRA, as reported by Kiplinger in a recent article titled “Getting Around the Stretch IRA Block.” There are alternatives to replace a stretch IRA.

Before the SECURE Act, people who inherited traditional IRAs needed to only take a minimum distribution annually, based on their own life expectancy. The money could grow tax-deferred for the rest of their lives. The tax impact was mild, because withdrawals could be spread out over many years, giving the new owner control over their taxable income. The rules were the same for an inherited Roth IRA. Distributions were based on the heirs’ life expectancy. Roth IRA heirs had the added benefit of not having to pay taxes on withdrawals, since Roth IRAs are funded with post-tax dollars.

After the SECURE Act, inherited traditional and Roth IRAs need to be emptied within ten years. Heirs can wait until the 10th year and empty the account all at once—and end up with a whopping tax bill—or take it out incrementally. However, it has to be emptied within ten years.

There are some exceptions: spouses, disabled or chronically ill individuals, or those who are not more than ten years younger than the original owner can stretch out the distribution of the IRA funds. If an underage minor inherits a traditional IRA, they can stretch it until they reach legal age. At that point, they have to withdraw all the funds in ten years—from age 18 to 28. This may not be the best time for a young person to have access to a large inheritance.

These changes have left many IRA owners looking for alternative ways to leave inheritances and find a work-around for their IRAs to protect their heirs from losing their inheritance to taxes or getting their inheritance at a young age.

For many, the solution is converting their traditional IRA to a Roth, where the IRA owner pays the taxes for their heirs. The strategy is generous and may be more tax efficient if the conversion is done during a time in retirement when the IRA owner’s income is lower, and they may be in a lower tax bracket. The average person receiving an IRA inheritance is around 50, typically peak earning years and the worst time to inherit a taxable asset.

Another alternative to replace the stretch IRA is life insurance. Distributions from the IRA can be used to pay premiums on a life insurance policy, with beneficiaries receiving death benefits. The proceeds from the policy are tax-free, although the proceeds are considered part of the policy owner’s estate. With the current federal exemption at $12.06 million for individuals, the state estate tax is the only thing most people will need to worry about.

A Charitable Remainder Trust can also be used to mimic a stretch IRA. A CRT is an irrevocable split-interest trust, providing income to the grantor and designated beneficiaries for up to twenty years or the lifetime of the beneficiaries. Any remaining assets are donated to charity, which must receive at least 10% of the trust’s initial value. If the CRT is named as the IRA beneficiary, the IRA funds are distributed to the CRT upon the owner’s death and the estate gets a charitable estate tax deduction (and not an income tax deduction) for the portion expected to go to the charity. Assets grow within the charitable trust, which pays out a set percentage to beneficiaries each year. The distributions are taxable income for the beneficiaries. There are two types of CRTs: Charitable Remainder Unitrust and a Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust. An estate planning attorney will know which one is best suited for your family. If you would like to read more about managing retirement accounts, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Kiplinger (March 3, 2022) “Getting Around the Stretch IRA Block”

Strategies to Reduce Taxes

March 17, 2022

With numerous bills still being considered by Congress, people are increasingly aware of the need to explore options for tax planning, charitable giving, estate planning and inheritances. Tax sensitive strategies for the near future are on everyone’s mind right now, according to the article “Inheritance, estate planning and charitable giving: 4 strategies to reduce taxes now” from Market Watch. These are the strategies to reduce taxes that you should be aware of.

Offsetting capital gains. Capital gains are the profits made from selling an asset which has appreciated in value since it was first acquired. These gains are taxed, although the tax rates on capital gains are lower than ordinary income taxes if the asset is owned for more than a year. Losses on assets reduce tax liability. This is why investors “harvest” their tax losses, to offset gains. The goal is to sell the depreciated asset and at the same time, to sell an appreciated asset.

Consider Roth IRA conversions. People used to assume they would be in a lower tax bracket upon retirement, providing an advantage for taking money from a traditional IRA or other retirement accounts. Income taxes are due on the withdrawals for traditional IRAs. However, if you retire and receive Social Security, pension income, dividends and interest payments, you may find yourself in the enviable position of having a similar income to when you were working. Good for the income, bad for the tax bite.

Converting an IRA into a Roth IRA is increasingly popular for people in this situation. Taxes must be paid, but they are paid when the funds are moved into a Roth IRA. Once in the Roth IRA account, the converted funds grow tax free and there are no further taxes on withdrawals after the IRA has been open for five years. You must be at least 59½ to do the conversion, and you do not have to do it all at once. However, in many cases, this makes the most sense.

Charitable giving has always been a good tax strategy. In the past, people would simply write a check to the organization they wished to support. Today, there are many different ways to support nonprofits, allowing for better tax advantages.

One of the most popular ways to give today is a DAF—Donor Advised Fund. These are third-party funds created for supporting charity. They work in a few different ways. Let’s say you have sold a business or inherited money and have a significant tax bill coming. By contributing funds to a DAF, you will get a tax break when you put the funds into a DAF. The DAF can hold the funds—they do not have to be contributed to charity, but as long as they are in the DAF account, you receive the tax benefit.

Another way to give to charity is through your IRA’s Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) by giving the minimum amount you are required to take from your IRA every year to the charity. Otherwise, your RMD is taxable as income. If you make a charitable donation using the RMD, you get the tax deduction, and the nonprofit gets a donation.

Giving while living is growing in popularity, as parents and grandparents can have pleasure of watching loved ones benefit from the impact of a gift. A person can give up to $16,000 to any other person every year, with no taxes due on the gift. The money is then out of the estate and the recipient receives the full amount of the gift.

All of these strategies to reduce taxes should be reviewed with your estate planning attorney with an eye to your overall estate plan, to ensure they work seamlessly to achieve your overall goals. If you would like to learn more about tax planning, please visit our previous posts.

Reference: Market Watch (Feb. 18, 2022) “Inheritance, estate planning and charitable giving: 4 strategies to reduce taxes now”

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Category: Charitable Remainder Trust

Strategies to minimize Taxes on Trusts

What Type of Trust is best for You?

The Estate of The Union Season 2|Episode 8 is out now!

Tax Scams Involving Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts

Protect the Family Business for the Next Generation

The Estate of The Union Season 2|Episode 4 is out now!

Minimizing Taxes should be a Part of your Plan

Maximize the Benefits of a Trust Fund

Alternatives to replace Stretch IRA

Strategies to Reduce Taxes

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