Does a Trust Make Sense?
By: Nitesh Patel
These tools aren't just for Rockefellers. The notion of a legal trust may conjure up images of country clubbers cradling gin-and-tonics. The truth is a trust may be a useful estate-planning tool for your family if you have a net worth of at least $100,000 and meet one of the following conditions, says Mike Janko, executive director of the National Association of Financial and Estate Planning (NAFEP):
- A sizable amount of your assets is in real estate, a business or an art collection;
- You want to leave your estate to your heirs in a way that is not directly and immediately payable to them upon your death. For example, you may want to stipulate that they receive their inheritance in three parts, or upon certain conditions being met, such as graduating from college;
- You want to support your surviving spouse, but also want to ensure that the principal or remainder of your estate goes to your chosen heirs (e.g., your children from a first marriage) after your spouse dies;
- You and your spouse want to maximize your estate-tax exemptions;
- You have a disabled relative whom you would like to provide for without disqualifying him or her from Medicaid or other government assistance.
- Among the chief advantages of trusts, they let you:
- Put conditions on how and when your assets are distributed after you die;
- Reduce estate and gift taxes;
- Distribute assets to heirs efficiently without the cost, delay and publicity of probate court. Probate can cost between 5 percent to 7 percent of your estate;
- Better protect your assets from creditors and lawsuits;
- Name a successor trustee, who not only manages your trust after you die, but is empowered to manage the trust assets if you become unable to do so.
Trusts are flexible, varied and complex. Each type has advantages and disadvantages, which you should discuss thoroughly with your estate-planning attorney before setting one up.
When it comes to cost, a basic trust plan may run anywhere from $1,600 to $5,000, or possibly more depending on the complexity of the trust. Such a plan should include the trust setup, a will, a living will and a health-care proxy. You will also pay fees to amend the trust if it's revocable and to administer the trust after you die.
For a trust in which you want to put the majority of your assets - known as a revocable living trust - you also have to have a "pour-over will" to cover any of your holdings that might be outside of your trust if you die unexpectedly. A pour-over will essentially directs that any assets outside of the trust at the time of your death be put into it so they can go to the heirs you choose. If you'd like to learn about different kinds of trusts, read on.
5 standard forms of trusts
Credit shelter trust: With a credit-shelter trust (also called a bypass or family trust), you write a will bequeathing an amount to the trust up to but not exceeding the estate-tax exemption. Then you pass the rest of your estate to your spouse tax-free. You also specify how you want the trust to be used - for example, you may stipulate that income from the trust after you die goes to your spouse and that when he or she dies, the principal will be distributed tax-free among your children.
Generation-skipping trust: A generation-skipping trust (also called a dynasty trust) allows you to transfer a substantial amount of money tax-free to beneficiaries who are at least two generations your junior - typically your grandchildren.
The generation-skipping exemption has been increasing gradually and is $3.5 million in 2009. You may specify that your children may receive income from the trust and even use its principal for almost anything that would benefit your grand kids, including health care, housing or tuition bills.
Qualified personal residence trust: A qualified personal residence trust (QPRT) can remove the value of your home or vacation dwelling from your estate and is particularly useful if your home is likely to appreciate in value.
A QPRT lets you give your home as a gift - most commonly to your children - while you keep control of it for a period that you stipulate, say 10 years. You may continue to live in the home and maintain full control of it during that time. In valuing the gift, the IRS assumes your home is worth less than its present-day value since your kids won't take possession of it for several years. (The longer the term of the trust, the less the value of the gift.)
Irrevocable life insurance trust: An irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) can remove your life insurance from your taxable estate, help pay estate costs, and provide your heirs with cash for a variety of purposes. To remove the policy from your estate, you surrender ownership rights, which means you may no longer borrow against it or change beneficiaries. In return, the proceeds from the policy may be used to pay any estate costs after you die and provide your beneficiaries with tax-free income.
Qualified terminable interest property trust: If you're part of a family where there have been divorces, remarriages and stepchildren, you may want to direct your assets to particular relatives through a qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust.
About the Author
Nitesh Patel has prove himself capable of staffing the largest and most complex cases for clients of all sizes, and maintaining day-to-day consultation on more routine matters. The Shatford brothers are exceedingly active as attorneys for helping clients with retirement planning and business transactions in the Temple City area and played an important role in helping families preserve their wealth through the proper planning.
Suggested Products
- Kiplinger's Estate Planning: The Complete Guide to Wills, Trusts, and Maximizing Your Legacy
- Plan Your Estate
- JK Lasser's New Rules for Estate and Tax Planning (J.K. Lasser)
- Estate Planning Smarts: A Practical, User-Friendly, Action-Oriented Guide
- 60-Minute Estate Planner: Fast and Easy Plans for Saving Taxes, Avoiding Probate, and Maximizing Inheritance (Sixty Minute Estate Planner)
- Estate Planning Basics
- Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To (book with CD-Rom)
- The 101 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes
- Estate Planning for Dummies
- American Bar Association Guide to Wills and Estates, Third Edition: Everything You Need to Know About Wills, Estates, Trusts, and Taxes (American Bar Association Guide to Wills & Estates)