Title: Estate Planning
1Estate Planning
- Virtual Session 3 3
- Powers of appointments
- Marital and split-interest trusts
- Intra-family business transfers
- Planning for non-traditional families
2Power of Appointment
- A power of appointment is a right given by a
donor in a will or in a trust for a holder of the
power to transfer the title of the donors
property. - Donor- is the person who gives the power of
appointment to a donee, who is the holder of the
power. - The holder of a power- is not given the title of
the donors property, but has the right to
transfer a portion of the property to himself or
to someone else. - Trustee- holds legal title to property and
carries out directives in the trust document.
3Holders Authority
- The holder of the POA can invade or consume trust
corpus, and can demand trust income from the
trustee. - The holder may choose
- Who should receive the trust property
- When income or principal should be distributed
- What amounts should be distributed to the
beneficiaries
4General POA
- Holder can choose anyone to receive the donors
property including the - Holder
- Holders creditors
- Holders estate, or
- Creditors of the holders estate
5Special or Limited Power
- Usually a holder cannot receive the donors
property and may only appoint the property to
others. - A holder cannot
- Appoint property to himself
- Appoint property to his creditors
- Use the property for his estate
- Appoint the property to creditors of his estate
6Limited Powers
- Holder may appoint trust property to himself only
with - The donors consent
- The consent of remaining trust beneficiaries who
have an adverse interest in the transaction. - An ascertainable standard. This permits the
holder to use trust income and principal for
himself and still have a limited power.
7Ascertainable Standard
- The holder can appoint trust income and corpus to
himself or others for health, education,
maintenance and support (HEMS) - Health medical, dental, hospital and nursing
expenses, and expenses of invalidism - Education expenses for college, vocational
schools and professional education - Support in reasonable comfort or an accustomed
manner of living
QA in 2 slides
8Identify an Ascertainable Standard
- An ascertainable standard can be written into the
trust document in any combination of HEMS. - Not an ascertainable standard
- The holder can exercise the power for his
welfare, comfort or well-being.
QA next slide
9Taxation of Limited Powers
- Gift Tax
- There is no gift tax liability for transferring
property to others when the limited power is
exercised, released or has lapsed. - Estate Tax
- Limited powers are not included in the holders
gross estate.
Q A
10Use of General Powers
- During Lifetime
- Exercise power Holder appoints property to
himself or others - Release power Holder gives up the right to
appoint property - Gift tax
- FMV of property - annual exclusion, offset by the
unified credit - Estate tax
- Gifted property is removed from the holders
estate
11Lapse of a General POA
- The POA was not exercised within a given period
of time or within the holders lifetime. - When a POA lapses, a gift is made to the
remaindermen in the trust. - This gift is taxable if the lapsed amount exceeds
the greater of 5,000 or 5 of the value of the
trust corpus.
12Example- Taxable Lapse
- Dad transfers 30,000 into an irrevocable trust
for his children, Bruce and Dawn, and allows them
to withdraw 15,000 each within 30 days. - If Bruce and Dawn let their withdrawal rights
lapse, they have made gifts to each other of
15,000 -
- Only the lapsed amount that exceeds the greater
of 5,000 or 5 of the trust corpus is taxed, or
10,000. (15,000 - 5,000 10,000)
135 x 5 Power
- Holder is given a non-cumulative right to make
annual withdrawals from the trust, which is
limited to the greater of 5,000 or 5 of the
value of the trust corpus. - Crummey powers are often limited to a 5 x 5
power. - Purpose of a 5 x 5 power It protects the holder
from making a taxable gift if the holder lets his
withdrawal right lapse.
14Lapse with a 5 x 5
- Mom transfers 30,000 into an irrevocable trust
for her children Mark and Leah and allows them to
withdraw the greater of 5,000 or 5 of the trust
corpus within 30 days. - Mark and Leah can only withdraw 5,000
- They let their withdrawal rights lapse
- No taxable gifts are made because Mark and Leah
cannot withdraw more than 5,000
15Estate Tax with a 5 x 5 Power
- 5 x 5 Power is Exercised or Released at death
- Only the greater of 5,000 or 5 of the value of
the assets subject to the power is included in
the holders gross estate. - Amounts included in the holders estate avoids
probate
16General POA at Death
- Holder can dispose of assets subject to the power
in their will - The value of the assets subject to the general
POA at the holders date of death will be
included in their gross estate. - The value of lapsed property that could have been
withdrawn since the trust was established, is
included in the holders gross estate. - General POA property included in the holders
estate avoids probate.
Q A in 2 slides
17POA and Estate Tax
- Summary
- General POAs are included in the holders estate
- 5 x 5 powers are included in the holders estate
- Limited powers are not included in the holders
estate
Q A next slide
18Estate Tax
- The estate tax has been reinstated in 2011
- Estate tax planning may involve using strategies
and trusts to avoid or delay paying estate taxes
Q A
19Estate Tax Return
- Gross Estate
- Minus expenses, debts, taxes, losses
- Adjusted Gross Estate
- Minus marital deduction
- charitable deduction
- Taxable Estate
- Plus Adjusted Taxable Gifts
- Tentative Tax Base
- Tentative Tax (compute tax)
- Minus Gift tax paid or payable (credit)
- Estate Tax Payable before Credits
- Estate tax unified credit
- Federal Estate Tax payable
6 million
- 6 million
0
- 1,730,800
0
20Surviving Spouses Estate Tax
6 million - 0 6 million 6 million
2,080,800 1,730,800 350,000
- Gross Estate
- Adjusted Gross Estate
Minus marital
deduction - Taxable Estate
- Plus Adjusted Taxable Gifts
- Tentative Tax Base
- Tentative Tax (compute tax)
- Estate Tax Payable before Credits
- Estate tax unified credit
- Federal Estate Tax payable
-
21Estate Tax Equalization
Husband and wife 3 million each
- Gross Estate
- Adjusted Gross Estate
Minus marital
deduction - Taxable Estate
- Tentative Tax (35 tax bracket)
- Estate tax unified credit
- Federal Estate Tax payable
- Combined estate tax 0
3 million
- zero 3 million 1,030,800 -
1,730,800 0
22Comparison of Estate Taxes
- 6 Million Estate
- Estate Tax Without Estate Equalization 350,000
- Estate Tax With Estate Equalization 0
- Savings 350,000
23By-Pass Trust
- A By-Pass trust is also known as a
- Credit shelter trust
- Family trust
- B trust
24Creating a By-Pass Trust
- Decedent spouse determines the trust
beneficiaries when the trust is created - Surviving Spouse
- Children
- Trust is funded with property solely owned by the
decedent
25Termination of By-Pass Trust
- Spouses right to income ends at death
- Trust corpus is divided into equal trust shares
for beneficiaries, or distributed outright to them
26Purpose of a By-Pass Trust
- Avoids over-qualifying the decedent spouses
estate for the marital deduction, by utilizing
the decedents maximum unified credit. - Allows the surviving spouse to obtain income as
needed. - Trust assets are not included in the surviving
spouses estate at death.
27Funding the By-Pass Trust
- Established during life Inter-vivos revocable
trust - Established at death Testamentary By-Pass trust
- Typically funded with exemption equivalent
amount (5 million)
28Using the Unified Credit
5 million - zero 5 million 1,730,800 -
1,730,800 0
- Gross Estate
- Adjusted Gross Estate
Minus marital
deduction - Taxable Estate
- Tentative Tax (compute tax)
- Estate tax unified credit
- Federal Estate Tax payable
QA in 2 slides
29Spousal Income in a B Trust
- The surviving spouse can obtain income as
needed from the trustee -
- The income interest is a terminable interest
(TIP) - The decedent spouse cannot receive a marital
deduction on his estate tax return
Q A next slide
30Surviving Spouses Estate
- Property by-passes inclusion in the surviving
spouses estate. - Spouse can be given a limited power of
appointment with an ascertainable standard (HEMS)
to receive distributions from trust income and
corpus. - Spouse can exercise a limited power of
appointment to distribute assets to the
beneficiaries. - Spouse can be given a 5 x 5 power of appointment
over trust corpus.
Q A
31Marital Deduction- Wills
- Marital deduction is available for property given
outright to a surviving spouse through a will - Fractional shares of Tenancy-in-Common property
- Community property
- Property transferred through intestacy
- Property transferred according to a will contest
- Elective share amounts
- Dower or curtesy
- Simultaneous death with a presumption-of-survivors
hip clause in the will - Bequest is conditional upon the spouse surviving
longer than 6 months after the decedents death
32Marital Deduction- Contracts
- Marital deduction is available in the decedents
estate when the surviving spouse is the
beneficiary of contracts - Life insurance policy
- Joint and survivor annuity (private or
commercial) - Pension
- IRA
- Charitable gift annuity
- Nuptial agreement
33Marital Deduction- Property
- Property held with a spouse as JTWROS (50)
-
- Property held as Tenancy by the Entirety (50)
- Life estate bequeathed to a spouse and the
executor makes a Q-TIP election - Life estate bequeathed to a spouse which passes
to her estate at death
34Marital Deduction- Trusts
- Spouse is given a general power of appointment
over property in trust - Remainder interests are given to a spouse
- Income interest is given to a spouse in a
charitable remainder trust
35Marital Trusts
- Marital trusts can be created as
- Funded revocable trusts
- Testamentary trusts created by a will
- Stand-by trusts funded at death
36Power of Appointment Trust
- Purpose Surviving spouse has access to income
and corpus for life - Surviving spouse has a general power of
appointment over trust corpus- exercisable during
life and/or at death. - Surviving spouse must receive all income which is
paid at least annually- no accumulation of income
in the trust. - Surviving spouse determines the beneficiaries of
the trust assets at death through a general power
of appointment in the will. - Trust property is included in the surviving
spouses estate.
37A and B Trust
- Surviving Spouse
- Has the right to all income and corpus from the A
trust and income if needed from the By-Pass trust - Only the property from the A trust is included in
the surviving spouses estate - Decedent Spouse
- A marital deduction is available for the A trust
- The unified credit is used for the By-Pass trust
- The estate tax liability is zero
38Taxation of an A and B Trust
Gross Estate
Adjusted Gross Estate
Minus
marital deduction Taxable
Estate
Tentative Tax (compute tax) Estate tax unified
credit Federal Estate Tax payable
- 8 million
- 3 million
- 5 million
- 1,730,800
- 1,730,800
- 0
39Q-TIP Trust
- Q-TIP trusts are established when the decedent
spouse wants to - Provide the beneficiary spouse with income for
life - Receive an estate tax marital deduction
-
- Give trust corpus to children from a previous
marriage
40Q-TIP Provisions
- The spouse must receive all trust income annually
- The spouse may receive distributions
of - corpus at the trustees discretion
- Corpus passes to remainder beneficiaries
designated by the decedent, at the beneficiary
spouses death - This is a terminable interest trust
- Qualifies the decedents estate for the marital
deduction - Executor elects Q-TIP treatment on Form
706
41Beneficiary Spouses Estate
- Trust property is included in the beneficiary
spouses gross estate at death. - Marital deduction was taken in the
decedent - spouses estate.
- Couples combined estate tax may be higher.
- Spouses executor can seek reimbursement for
estate taxes paid by the spouse from trust
beneficiaries. - Spouse may be given a 5 x 5 POA to invade trust
corpus.
Q A in 2 slides
42Taxation of an A, B, Q-TIP Trust
- Spouses Estate
- A Trust- 3 million
- Q-TIP Trust- 4 million
- B Trust- 5 million
- Gross Estate
- Adjusted Gross Estate
- Minus marital deduction
- Taxable Estate
- Tentative Tax (compute tax)
- Estate tax unified credit
- Federal Estate Tax payable
12 million
- 7 million 5 million 1,730,800 -
1,730,800 0
Q A next slide
43Surviving Spouses Taxable Estate
- Gross Estate
- Adjusted Gross Estate
-
- Minus marital deduction
- Taxable Estate
-
- Tentative Tax (compute tax)
- Estate tax unified credit
- Federal Estate Tax payable
7 million 7 million - zero 7 million
2,430,800 - 1,730,800 700,000
Q A
44Estate Trust
- Purpose of an Estate Trust
- To qualify the property for a marital deduction
in the decedents estate. - Use if the beneficiary spouse has substantial
wealth and does not need the trust income or
corpus.
45Estate Trust Characteristics
- Fund the trust with assets the decedent does not
want sold, or assets not likely to appreciate. - Trust income accumulates but the trustee may
distribute income or corpus, if needed. - Surviving spouse can determine beneficiaries of
the trust in their will. - Trust corpus and accumulated income are included
in the spouses estate at death.
46Qualified Domestic Order Trust
- The purpose of a Q-DOT trust
- To give the decedent a marital deduction for
property passing to a non-citizen spouse. - To ensure that the decedents assets will not
leave the U.S. without being taxed.
47Characteristics of a QDOT
- The QDOT permits a marital deduction if
- The trustee is a U.S. citizen or bank with a
domestic presence who distributes all income
annually to the non-citizen spouse for life. - The trustees withhold estate taxes from
distributions of corpus that are not subject to
an ascertainable standard. - Estate taxes are withheld from distributions to
heirs when the non-citizen spouse dies. - The non-citizen spouse can use a unified credit
to offset their estate tax liability.
48Qualified Disclaimer
- A disclaimer is a written refusal to accept a
gift or a bequest. - The disclaimed property passes back to the donor
or to the decedents estate and is transferred
directly to a different recipient. - The person who disclaims the property does not
make a gift to the recipient. - Property must be disclaimed within 9 months and
the donee must not take possession of the
property.
49Disclaimers at Death
- Property is left to the surviving spouse in the
decedents will. - The surviving spouse disclaims enough property to
match the exemption equivalent amount. Now the
decedents unified credit can be used to offset
their taxable estate. - Disclaimed property reverts back to the
decedents estate. - No marital deduction is available for the
disclaimed property.
50Disclaimer Trust
- Purpose of a Disclaimer Trust
- Allows the surviving spouse to determine what
portion of a decedents estate should be
transferred into a trust or should pass through
the will. - Trust is usually established by a clause in the
decedents will, or the trust can be established
in advance. - Disclaimed assets go through probate since they
pass through the will into the trust.
Q A in 2 slides
51Spouses Interest in a Disclaimer Trust
- Spouse receives a life income from the disclaimed
property transferred into the trust. - The life income is a terminable interest, so the
trust assets are not included in the spouses
estate. - Spouse cannot invade the trust corpus unless
given an ascertainable standard.
Q A next slide
52Marital Objectives
- Couple wants
- To minimize their total estate tax liability for
their combined estates- Estate equalization - Surviving spouse to receive all income annually-
A or Q-TIP - Surviving spouse to receive income if needed- B
or Estate Trust - Decedent spouse to receive a marital deduction-
A, Q-TIP, Estate Trust, outright gift to spouse - Surviving spouse to choose trust beneficiaries- A
or Estate Trust - Surviving spouse to determine what portion of the
decedents estate to transfer into a trust to use
the decedents unified credit- Disclaimer trust - Surviving spouse to access trust income for
health, education, maintenance and support
without including the assets in their estate-
Ascertainable standard
Q A
53Intra-Family Business Transfers
- Business owners need to arrange for the
disposition of their business in the event they
become disabled, retire or die. - Options include
- Having family members or key employees continue
to run the business - Selling the business to family members or to 3rd
parties - Liquidating the business by selling off assets
54Buy-Sell Agreements
- Stock redemption plans- used by corporations
- Cross purchase agreements- used by individual
business owners - Life insurance proceeds are paid to the
corporation or to the remaining business owners
to buy the deceaseds closely held stock or
partnership interest. - The buy-sell agreement values the business when
the policies are purchased. - Freezes the estate tax value of the business.
- Guarantees a future market and sale price for the
decedents closely held stock
55Installment Sale
- Purpose To sell the business to a family member
or a 3rd party and provide a secured income for
the seller. - The promissory installment note is secured, and
does not require a set sale price. - Buyer does not need a down payment and payment
amounts can vary. Payments can be skipped or
spread out over several years. - At least one payment must be made to the owner
after the taxable year in which the sale occurs. - The PV of any outstanding installment payments is
included in the sellers gross estate.
56SCIN
- Purpose A SCIN partially or fully cancels the
installment note before the note matures. - The seller can cancel the installment note in the
will. The unpaid balance of the note is not
included in the sellers gross estate. - The seller can cancel the entire note at once,
which is subject to capital gains and gift taxes.
- Example Basis of business 100,000 sold for
800,000. Capital gain is reported on 700,000
and 687,000 is subject to gift taxes. - A seller can cancel the note in increments of
13,000 per year per buyer to avoid or reduce
taxable gifts.
57Private Annuity
- Purpose A seller receives a fixed annuity
income stream for life and removes the business
or property from their gross estate. - Payments from the sale are structured as an
annuity and are unsecured. - Single life annuity remaining payments are not
included in the sellers estate. - Joint and survivor annuity Payments continue
for two lives. The PV of the survivors future
annuity payments is included in the sellers
estate, but a marital deduction is available to
offset the tax. - Buyer beware if the buyer dies before the
seller, the buyers estate must make payments to
the seller for life. If the seller outlives
their calculated life expectancy, the buyer must
continue to pay the seller.
58Intra-family Loan
- An intra-family loan is not a gift since the loan
is expected to be paid back to the lender with
interest. - The lender is taxed on the interest payments
received which may be deducted by the borrower. - The lender can forgive up to the annual exclusion
amount of the loan payments and interest each
year without incurring a gift tax. - The outstanding value of the promissory note is
included in the lenders estate at death.
59Sale Leaseback
- Purpose To provide income to family members
when the owners wealth is tied up in the family
business. - Business owner sells business property to an
adult child then leases it back. - Owner receives a lump sum payment or installment
payments from the child and continues to use the
property in the business. - Owner deducts monthly lease payments made to the
child as a business expense. - Lease payments are taxed in the childs lower tax
bracket. - Business property is removed from the business
owners estate.
60Gift Leaseback
- A gift leaseback is similar to a sale leaseback,
but since the property is not sold, no cash
payments are made to the owner. - Owner gifts property into an irrevocable trust
then leases the property back. - Owner receives business deductions for the lease
payments made to the trust. - Trustee distributes lease payments to family
beneficiaries in lower tax brackets. - Business property is removed from the owners
estate.
61Family Limited Partnership
- Purpose FLPs permit parents, as general
partners, to control their investments such as
cash, stocks or real estate, and transfer
ownership to family members to reduce the value
of their estates. - General partners can control the assets with only
2 ownership of partnership interests. - General partners are compensated for services
rendered and receive profits based on their
percentage of ownership in the FLP. - Family members are limited partners and have no
management control, even if they own the
remaining 98 of partnership interests.
62Gifting FLP Interests
- Income shifting occurs when partnership interests
are gifted to family members in lower tax
brackets. - Gift taxes on transfers to limited partners are
reduced by two discounts - Minority discount
- Lack of marketability discount
- Discounts leverage the general partners annual
exclusions. - Gift splitting by parents who are general
partners further reduces the gift tax on
transfers of partnership interests.
63Estate Taxation of FLPs
- FLP- The general partners estate tax is based on
the value of the partnership interests owned at
death. - Irrevocable Trusts- Grantors who retain any
control over distributions to beneficiaries will
have the FMV of the trust assets included in
their gross estate.
64Estate Freezes
- Purpose Allows business owners to retain much of
the present value and control of their business,
and some source of revenue, while the growth and
future appreciation is shifted to the next
generation. - A freeze assures the business remains in the
family at minimum transfer tax costs. - Estate freezes apply to installment sales of
property, SCINs, private annuities, preferred
stock recapitalizations, GRATs, QPRTs, FLPs and
buy-sell agreements.
65Chapter 14
- Chapter 14 ensures the proper taxation of partial
interest gifts that are made to family members
for less than FMV. - Chapter 14 does not apply to
- - Sales to family members
- - Gifts to unrelated parties
- - A transfer of the entire
business or property interest to family members - - Partial interest bequests made
to family members at the owners death
66IRC Section 2701
- IRC 2701 refers to the partial transfer of
corporate or partnership interests to family
members. - A business owner with a taxable estate may wish
to transfer some, not all, of his closely held
stock to his children to - Reduce the value of his gross estate
- Freeze the value of the remaining shares in his
estate - Allow his children to benefit from the stocks
future appreciation - Receive some income while retaining control of
his business - Solution- A preferred stock recapitalization
67Qualified Payments
- Qualified payments are payments that are fixed
in time and amount. - Transfers made under Chapter 14 need a qualified
payment so that the gift is based on the FMV of
the gifted shares minus the annual exclusion
minus any discounts. - Without a qualified payment
- A partial interest gift is taxed based on the FMV
of the closely held business. - The donor has a retained interest of zero.
68Preferred Stock Recapitalization
- The owner recapitalizes his stock into voting
preferred and non-voting common, and gifts the
non-voting common to his children. - The owner keeps cumulative preferred shares. This
gives the owner a qualified payment since he
has the right to receive dividends at a fixed par
value. - The value of the gift of common stock is the
stocks FMV reduced by annual exclusions and
applicable discounts.
69Example- Preferred Stock Recapitalization
- A business owner has a company worth 1 million.
After recapitalizing the stock, he gifts 400,000
of his non-voting common stock to his two
children, keeping 600,000 of cumulative
preferred shares. - Gift tax The owner has a qualified payment. The
gift tax value is 200,000 for each child minus
an annual exclusion and discounts. - Estate tax The business may be valued at 3
million, but only the original 600,000 of
retained preferred stock is included in the
owners gross estate.
70Qualified Interest Trusts
- Removes the assets and future appreciation from
the grantors estate - Transfers assets to family members at a low gift
tax value - Grantor retains a stream of income for a number
of years
71Grantor Retained Trust
- Grantor receives trust income for a term of years
- The remainder interest in the trust is gifted to
family beneficiaries at a reduced gift tax value - When the grantors interest ends the corpus,
accumulated appreciation, and undistributed
income passes to beneficiaries tax-free
72Estate Tax
- The asset is removed from the grantors gross
estate if the grantor outlives the income term - If the grantor does not survive the income term,
then a portion of the trust is included in the
grantors estate
73Example of a GRT
- A grantor, age 62, transfers 4 million into a
trust today and names his 2 children the
remainder beneficiaries. The grantor will receive
income for 10 years. - In 10 years when the FMV of the trust has grown
to 6 million the beneficiaries will receive the
trust corpus and appreciation gift-tax free. The
value of the trust is not included in the
grantors estate.
74Qualified Interests
- Grantor retained trusts are subject to Chapter 14
since they are partial interest gifts made to
family members. - Qualified payments
- Annuity payment- The grantor has the right to
receive a fixed amount of trust income annually
for a term of years - Unitrust payment- The grantor has the right to
receive a fixed percentage of the property each
year, revalued annually
75GRAT
- Grantor receives a fixed annuity payment until
the term ends. - Example Grantor transfers 1 million into a
trust that retains a 5 income stream. The
grantor will receive a fixed income payout of
50,000 annually. -
- Additional funds cannot be added to the trust to
provide more income for the grantor. - GRATs are preferable for assets that are
difficult to value, such as closely held stock or
real estate that is expected to appreciate in
value.
76GRAT Example
- A grantor transfers 1 million into a two-year
GRAT. The interest rate used to value the annuity
is 3.2 but suppose the trust actually earns 10
a year. The grantor is paid 524,136 in each of
the next two years. - The balance in the trust, which is based on the
appreciation of the earnings over the interest,
is 109,313. This amount is transferred to the
remainder beneficiaries free of gift and estate
taxes.
77Funding a GRAT
- Fund with assets likely to outperform the federal
Section 7520 rate used to value the grantors
annuity payout. - Any appreciation that exceeds the total annuity
payout is transferred tax-free to the
beneficiaries when the grantors income interest
ends. - GRATs should be funded when asset values are low,
which reduces the gift tax and gives
beneficiaries greater upside potential for future
appreciation. - A longer payout term for the grantor or a higher
annuity payout for a shorter term, results in a
lower taxable gift of the remainder interest.
78GRUT
- Grantor retains a payment right of a fixed
percentage of the value of the trust property,
determined annually, for a fixed period of years.
- Additional funds can be added to the trust to
provide more income. - Example Grantor transfers 1 million into a
trust that retains a 6 income stream. The
initial payout to the grantor is 60,000. The
next years payout is equal to 6 of the value of
the assets within the trust. This payout amount
could be more or less than 60,000 depending on
how the invested assets perform.
79GRIT
- A GRIT distributes all of the trusts income to a
grantor for a number of years, and then
distributes the trusts remainder interest to
beneficiaries. - Assets transferred into GRITs with family
beneficiaries are taxed at FMV for gift tax
purposes, not at the PV of the trusts remainder
interest. - A grantor who dies before the income term has
ended will include the FMV of the trust corpus in
their gross estate.
80Use of GRITs
- GRITs are typically limited to transfers of a
personal residence or certain tangible property,
when the grantor wants to retain use of the
property for a period of time. - GRITs are used for split-interest trusts with
non-family members such as friends, life
partners, and nieces and nephews, which retains
its favorable gift tax treatment.
81Qualified Personal Residence Trust
- A QPRT holds a persons residence, allowing
couples or individuals to live in the house
rent-free for a fixed period of time. - A home transferred into a QPRT is taxed at the PV
of the homes remainder interest, rather than at
its FMV. - At the end of the term, the home passes gift-tax
free to the beneficiaries and is removed from the
grantors estate. - If the grantor dies before the residence term
ends, the FMV of the home is included in the
grantors estate.
Q A in 2 slides
82Characteristics of a QPRT
- Grantors can have two homes subject to a QPRT, a
primary residence and a vacation home, or a
fractional interest in either. - A home subject to a mortgage can be transferred
into the trust. - Grantors must continue to pay property taxes and
home maintenance expenses. - Grantors can continue to live in the home after
the term ends by paying rent to the trust.
Q A next slide
83QPRT as a Freeze Technique
- A QPRT allows the grantor to freeze the value
of the home when it is placed in trust, and pass
along any future appreciation to trust
beneficiaries. - A beneficiarys basis in the home is the
grantors original basis increased by a portion
of any gift taxes paid.
Q A
84Non-traditional Families
- Non-traditional couples need written agreements,
legal documents and expert advice to handle
property, tax, and domestic issues that are
unique to their situations. - The federal government does not recognize
same-sex relationships or provide government
benefits to partners. - States often do not recognize civil unions or
domestic partnership legislation passed in other
states.
85Estate Planning for Non-traditional Families
- Comprehensive estate plans include
- Legal documents such as wills, durable powers of
attorney and health care proxies - Property ownership plans that include JTWROS,
tenancy in common, POD and TOD accounts - Trusts such as funded revocable trusts, GRITs and
charitable remainder trusts - Domestic partnership agreements
- Life insurance policies to pay for estate
administrative expenses and taxes, and to fund
testamentary bequests - Long-term care and disability insurance
86Wills
- Wills can bequeath personal and real property to
whomever the testator chooses. - Partners cannot take an elective share against
the will if property is not bequeathed to them. - Appoint guardians and contingent guardians for
minor children and address custody arrangements
in the will. - Partners should make testamentary bequests rather
than lifetime gifts to safeguard their property
interests against a deteriorating relationship.
87Durable Powers of Attorney
- Without a durable power of attorney
- Probate courts will appoint a guardian and a
conservator to care for a partner and their
property. - The law presumes that biological family members
have the right to make business and personal care
decisions for an incompetent person. - Without a health care proxy
- Unmarried couples do not have the same legal
rights to visit their partner in a hospital as
married couples do.
88Benefits
- There are no joint government benefits such as
Medicare or Medicaid coverage for un-married
couples. - Non-spouses cannot receive Social Security
retirement, survivor or disability benefits on
their partners account. - Not all pension plans allow for a non-spousal
beneficiary, but IRA owners can name their
partners as beneficiaries.
89Trusts in Non-traditional Relationships
- Partners should consider setting up separate
trusts to - Protect their interests
- Control their property
- Provide for their partners
- Address the legal, tax, financial and personal
aspects of a couples unique living arrangements
90Gifts of Property- JTWROS
- JTWROS
- Guarantees equal ownership regardless of the
amount contributed - Estate tax value is based on the amount
contributed - Surviving tenant is the sole owner with exclusive
use and control - The entire property is subject to creditor claims
91Tenancy in Common
- Each partner retains lifetime and testamentary
control over their separate property. -
- Owners can buy out the other partner, and sell or
gift their property to others.
92Home Ownership
- Partners who share primary residences or vacation
homes can attribute ownership to the partner in
the highest tax bracket to take advantage of
mortgage interest and property tax deductions. - Couples who own two homes should own each one
separately, to use the 250,000 capital gains tax
exclusion when a home is sold. -
- Partners should be named on homeowners policies
and property and liability policies to ensure
they are both covered in a loss.
93Record Keeping
- Accurate and complete records must be kept to
show the extent that each partner contributed to
property interests and financial assets such as -
- Purchases of real property
- Mortgage payments
- Savings and investment accounts
- Personal property items
94Children From Another Relationship
- Remarriage issues
- Child custody
- Child support payments
- Planning for combined families
- Adoption
- Planning for the death of one or both natural
parents
Q A in 2 slides
95Planning for Divorced Parents
- Divorced parents should create new wills to
- Coordinate personal and financial guardians to
care for their children in the event of their
deaths. - To provide their current spouse with assets equal
to their states elective share amount. - To avoid having property pass to a former spouse,
or go through partial intestacy.
Q A next slide
96Considerations for Divorced Parents
- QTIP trusts- assign assets to different
beneficiaries and protect children from a
previous marriage. - Sprinkle trusts- make discretionary distributions
according to beneficiary needs. - Life insurance policies and ILITs- can provide
additional financial support to minor children
upon a parents death.
Q A
97Thank You!
- This completes the Boston University Virtual
Review Sessions. - We wish you great success on taking the CFP
Certification Examination!