The Petrosewicz Law Firm Estate Planning Blog

What is a GRAT and Does Your Family Need One?

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.

What is a GRAT? 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.

Here’s an example. Let’s say a person owns 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 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 an estate 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.

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

Can an Inheritance Lead to Trouble for Marriages?

Is an inheritance a blessing, or a curse? That’s the question from the recent article “When One Spouse Gets an Inheritance It Can Be Hard on a Marriage” posed by The Wall Street Journal. The emotional high of receiving an inheritance is often paired with legal issues. Emotional and life changing decisions can take a toll on the best of partnerships. Spouses may disagree with how assets should be used, or if an inheritance should be set aside for children from a prior marriage. The question of what happens to the inheritance in the case of death or divorce also needs to be addressed.

Couples are advised to start exploring these issues, with the help of an experienced estate planning attorney as soon as they know an inheritance is in their future. For starters, couples should learn about the legal issues surrounding inheritances. Most states recognize inheritances as separate property. However, if funds are co-mingled in a joint account, or the deed for an inherited house is in both names, it becomes more complicated to separate out, if necessary.

Couples who decide to use an inheritance for a large purchase need to be mindful of how the purchase is structured and recorded. Writing a check directly from an account dedicated to the inherited funds and keeping records to show the withdrawal is recommended. If a check needs to be drawn from a joint or single account, the inherited funds should only be placed in the account for a short period, preferably close to the time of purchase, so it is clear the funds were transferred solely for the purpose of the particular transaction.

It would be wise to obtain a written agreement between spouses, making it clear the money was contributed with the understanding if there is a sale of the property or a divorce, inherited funds and any appreciation would be credited back to the contributing spouse.

For one couple, a $100,000 inheritance received by a man in his mid-50s with adult children and a second spouse created friction. The man wanted to set the funds aside for his children from a prior marriage, and his wife felt hurt, because she had every intention of giving the money to his children in the event of her husband’s death. She didn’t see the need to keep things separate. However, when advisors ran a series of projections showing the wife would be well cared for in the event of his death, since most of his own $1 million estate was earmarked for her, she relented. They also helped her understand if she racked up big medical bills later in her own life or creditors went after the estate, the money would be better protected by keeping it separate.

Risks come with co-mingling inheritances. It is important for couples to understand how this works. Another example: a couple who expected to receive a sizable inheritance and did not save for their own retirement. Instead, they used up the wife’s inheritance for their children’s college educations. When the husband filed for divorce, the wife was left with no access to her ex-husband’s expected large inheritance and had no retirement savings.

These are not easy conversations to have. However, couples need to look past the emotions and make business-like decisions about how to preserve and protect inheritances. It’s far easier to do so while the marriage is intact, then when a divorce or other unexpected life event shifts the financial event horizon.

Reference: The Wall Street Journal (Sep. 13, 2020) “When One Spouse Gets an Inheritance It Can Be Hard on a Marriage”

Reviewing Your Estate Plan Protects Goals, Family

Transferring the management of assets if and when you are unable to manage them yourself because of disability or death is the basic reason for an estate plan. This goes for people with $100 or $100 million. You already have an estate plan, because every state has laws addressing how assets are managed and who will inherit your assets, known as the Laws of Intestacy, if you do not have a will created. However, the estate plan created by your state’s laws might not be what you want, explains the article “Auditing Your Estate Plan” appearing in Forbes.

To take more control over your estate, you’ll want to have an estate planning attorney create an estate plan drafted to achieve your goals. To do so, you’ll need to start by defining your estate planning objectives. What are you trying to accomplish?

• Provide for a surviving spouse or family
• Save on income taxes now
• Save on estate and gift taxes later
• Provide for children later
• Bequeath assets to a charity
• Provide for retirement income, and/or
• Protect assets and beneficiaries from creditors.

A review of your estate plan, especially if you haven’t done so in more than three years, will show whether any of your goals have changed. You’ll need to review wills, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare proxies, beneficiary designation forms, insurance policies and joint accounts.

Preparing for incapacity is just as important as distributing assets. Who should manage your medical, financial and legal affairs? Designating someone, or more than one person, to act on your behalf, and making your wishes clear and enforceable with estate planning documents, will give you and your loved ones security. You are ready, and they will be ready to help you, if something unexpected occurs.

There are a few more steps, if your estate plan needs to be revised:

• Make the plan, based on your goals,
• Engage the people, including an estate planning attorney, to execute the plan,
• Have a will updated and executed, along with other necessary documents,
• Re-title assets as needed and complete any changes to beneficiary designations, and
• Schedule a review of your estate plan every few years and more frequently if there are large changes to tax laws or your life circumstances.

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

Does Your Estate Plan Include Digital Property Protection?

One of the challenges facing estate plans today is a new class of assets, known as digital property or digital assets. When a person dies, what happens to their digital lives? According to the article “Digital assets important part of modern estate planning” from the Cleveland Jewish News, digital assets need to be included in an estate plan, just like any other property.

What is a digital asset? There are many, but the basics include things like social media—Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat—as well as financial online accounts, bank and investment online accounts, blogs, photo sharing accounts, cloud storage, text messages, emails and more. If it has a username and a password and you access it on a digital device, consider it a digital asset.

Business and household files stored on a local computer or in the cloud should also be considered as digital assets. The same goes for any cryptocurrency; Bitcoin is the most well-known type, and there are many others.

The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) has been adopted by almost all states to provide legal guidance on rights to access digital assets for four (4) different types of fiduciaries: executors, trustees, agents under a financial power of attorney and guardians. The law allows people the right to grant not only their digital assets, but the contents of their communications. It establishes a three-tier system for the user, the most important part being if the person expresses permission in an online platform for a specific asset, directly with the custodian of a digital platform, that is the controlling law. If they have not done so, they can provide for permission to be granted in their estate planning documents. They can also allow or forbid people to gain access to their digital assets.

If a person does not take either of these steps, the terms of service they agreed to with the platform custodian governs the rights to access or deny access to their digital assets.

It’s important to discuss this new asset class with your estate planning attorney to ensure that your estate plan addresses your digital assets. Having a list of digital assets is a first step, but it’s just the start. Leaving the family to fight with a tech giant to gain access to digital accounts is a stressful legacy to leave behind.

Reference: Cleveland Jewish News (Sep. 24, 2020) “Digital assets important part of modern estate planning”

Why Everyone Needs an Estate Plan

Many people think you have to be a millionaire to need an estate plan and investing in an estate plan is too costly for an average American. Not true! People of modest means actually need an estate plan more than the wealthy to protect what they have. A recent article from TAPinto.net explains the basics in “Estate Planning–Getting Your Affairs in Order Does Not Need to be Complicated or Expensive.”

Everyone needs an estate plan consisting of the following documents: a Last Will and Testament, a General Durable Power of Attorney and an Advance Medical Directive or Living Will.

Unless your estate is valued at more than $11.58 million, you may not be as concerned about federal estate taxes right now, but this may change in the near future. Some states, like New Jersey, don’t have any state estate tax at all. There are states, like Pennsylvania, which have an “inheritance” tax determined based on the relationship the person has with the decedent. However, taxes aren’t the only reason to have an estate plan.

If you have young children, your will is the legal document used to tell your executor and the court who you want to care for your minor children by naming their guardian. The will is also used to explain how your minor children’s inheritance should be managed by naming trustees.

Why do you need a General Power of Attorney? This is the document that you need to name a person to be in charge of your affairs, if you become incapacitated and can’t make or communicate decisions. Without a POA in place, no one, not even your spouse, has the legal authority to manage your financial and legal affairs. Your family would have to go to court and file a guardianship action, which can be expensive, take time to complete and create unnecessary stress for the family.

An Advance Medical Directive, also known as a Living Will, is used to let a person of your choice make medical decisions, if you are unable to do so. This is a very important document to have, especially if you have strong feelings about being kept alive by artificial means. The Advance Medical Directive gives you an opportunity to express your wishes for end of life care, as well as giving another person the legal right to make medical decisions on your behalf. Without it, a guardianship may need to be established, wasting critical time if an emergency situation occurs.

Most people of modest means need only these three documents, but they can make a big difference to protect the family. If the family includes disabled children or individuals, owns a business or real estate, there are other documents needed to address these more complex situations. However, simple or complex, your estate and your family deserve the protection of an estate plan.

Reference: TAPinto.net (Sep. 23, 2020) “Estate Planning–Getting Your Affairs in Order Does Not Need to be Complicated or Expensive”