Advanced Planning
A structured reference for transfer-tax strategies, family entities, directed trusts, situs, governance, and multigenerational stewardship.
32 entrées de référence
A blind trust places investment control with an independent trustee and limits the beneficiary's knowledge or influence, but the label alone does not satisfy any particular public-ethics, securities, tax, or conflict rule.
Idée clé : A truly qualified arrangement may require divestiture, independent management, and regulator approval under the applicable regime.
Lire le guide completBusiness succession coordinates voting control, economics, leadership, buy-sell terms, valuation, liquidity, key relationships, and the owner's personal estate plan before incapacity, retirement, or death.
Idée clé : Entity documents and buy-sell agreements can control transfers despite a will.
Lire le guide completCharitable planning can use direct gifts, beneficiary designations, donor-advised funds, split-interest trusts, or private foundations, each with different control, timing, valuation, administration, and tax effects.
Idée clé : The charity's legal name and tax identification should be confirmed.
Lire le guide completA charitable lead trust pays charity first for a term or measured lives, then transfers the remainder to noncharitable beneficiaries; annuity and unitrust versions have different valuation and tax characteristics.
Idée clé : A CLT reverses the order of interests in a CRT.
Lire le guide completA charitable remainder trust is an irrevocable split-interest trust that pays a qualifying noncharitable interest for a term or lives, with the remainder passing to charity; CRAT and CRUT payout designs differ.
Idée clé : A CRT must satisfy statutory payout, duration, remainder-value, and administration requirements.
Lire le guide completA CRUT is a charitable remainder trust that pays a fixed percentage of annually revalued trust assets, so payments can rise or fall with value; permitted net-income variants add further rules.
Idée clé : Annual valuation is intrinsic to the unitrust formula.
Lire le guide completCommunity-property law classifies ownership between spouses and can affect control, division, creditor exposure, federal reporting, and basis at death; nine states use a general community-property system and some states permit elective arrangements.
Idée clé : Domicile, source of funds, agreements, and tracing can determine classification.
Lire le guide completA credit shelter trust is funded at the first spouse's death to use available exclusion and benefit family without ordinary inclusion in the surviving spouse's estate when designed and administered correctly.
Idée clé : It is also called a bypass, family, or B trust in some plans.
Lire le guide completA directed trust divides traditional trustee functions among a directed trustee and one or more trust directors or advisers, such as separate investment, distribution, or family-business decision-makers.
Idée clé : Titles and liability standards differ by state.
Lire le guide completA DAPT is a self-settled irrevocable trust formed under a state's statute that may protect a settlor-beneficiary from some future creditors if strict requirements are met; interstate, bankruptcy, fraudulent-transfer, and public-policy issues make outcomes uncertain.
Idée clé : Only some states authorize self-settled spendthrift protection.
Lire le guide completA dynasty trust is a long-duration trust designed to hold and govern assets for multiple generations, often combining GST planning, beneficiary protection, and flexible fiduciary governance.
Idée clé : Permitted duration depends on governing law and any rule against perpetuities.
Lire le guide completReal-estate planning coordinates title, management authority, debt, insurance, entity agreements, tax basis, liquidity, and property in multiple jurisdictions.
Idée clé : A separate-state property can create ancillary administration.
Lire le guide completFamily governance uses agreed decision processes, education, communication, and role clarity to help a long-term plan function across people and generations; it complements rather than replaces legal documents.
Idée clé : A family council, mission statement, and meeting cadence have no single required form.
Lire le guide completA firearms trust is a trust drafted to own and administer firearms under applicable federal and state law, including National Firearms Act procedures where relevant; it does not waive background checks, registration, transfer tax, possession limits, or local prohibitions.
Idée clé : Federal rules distinguish NFA-regulated firearms from ordinary firearms.
Lire le guide completGST tax is a separate federal transfer-tax system for certain transfers to skip persons or skip trusts; exemption allocation and trust inclusion ratios require specific analysis.
Idée clé : GST tax can arise as a direct skip, taxable distribution, or taxable termination.
Lire le guide completA generation-skipping trust is designed for beneficiaries two or more generations below the transferor, or other skip persons, with deliberate GST-tax allocation and distribution planning.
Idée clé : A trust for grandchildren is not automatically GST-tax exempt.
Lire le guide completA GRAT is an irrevocable term trust in which the grantor keeps a fixed annuity and transfers remaining value to beneficiaries if asset performance exceeds the assumed federal rate and the structure succeeds.
Idée clé : The remainder gift is valued at creation under statutory valuation rules.
Lire le guide completProperty acquired from a decedent often receives a basis tied to fair market value at the applicable valuation date under federal law, but exceptions, entity rules, community property, and estate-inclusion questions matter.
Idée clé : A higher basis can reduce later gain; a lower value can also step basis down.
Lire le guide completAn IDGT is an irrevocable trust designed so a transfer can be complete for gift and estate tax while the grantor remains the income-tax owner; the 'defect' is intentional only in that tax-classification sense.
Idée clé : Frequently paired with a gift and sale for a note, but neither step is automatic or risk-free.
Lire le guide completAn ILIT is an irrevocable trust designed to own or receive life insurance and manage proceeds, often seeking liquidity and exclusion from the insured's gross estate when ownership and administration rules are satisfied.
Idée clé : Transferring an existing policy can trigger a federal three-year estate-inclusion rule.
Lire le guide completAn irrevocable trust is a broad category in which the settlor cannot simply reclaim or rewrite the arrangement at will; its tax, creditor, and control results depend on retained powers, beneficiary rights, funding, and governing law.
Idée clé : Irrevocable does not mean unchangeable under every circumstance.
Lire le guide completA marital trust is a broad descriptive category for a trust designed to benefit a spouse; it is not one standardized tax classification, and only a trust that satisfies the applicable statutory terms and elections receives a federal or state marital deduction.
Idée clé : The governing instrument may give the spouse mandatory income, discretionary principal, withdrawal rights, a power of appointment, or another defined interest; the label marital trust does not supply those rights.
Lire le guide completA noncharitable purpose trust holds property for a permitted purpose rather than ordinary human beneficiaries, typically requiring an enforcer and a state law that recognizes the purpose and duration.
Idée clé : Recognition and permissible duration vary sharply.
Lire le guide completPortability can allow a surviving spouse to use a deceased spouse's unused federal exclusion, but the deceased spouse's estate generally must make a valid election on Form 706 or qualify for available relief.
Idée clé : Portability is a federal election; state treatment may differ.
Lire le guide completA QTIP trust can qualify property for the estate-tax marital deduction while requiring income for the surviving spouse and preserving the first spouse's control over the remainder, if statutory terms and the executor's election are satisfied.
Idée clé : The surviving spouse generally must be entitled to all trust income at least annually during life.
Lire le guide completA QDOT can permit a marital deduction for qualifying property passing to a surviving spouse who is not a U.S. citizen, while imposing U.S.-trustee, withholding, security, and distribution-tax rules.
Idée clé : The QDOT election is generally made on the decedent's estate-tax return.
Lire le guide completA QPRT transfers a qualifying residence to an irrevocable trust while the grantor retains use for a fixed term, reducing the value of the taxable remainder gift if statutory requirements are met.
Idée clé : Death during the retained term can cause estate inclusion.
Lire le guide completA trust named as retirement-account beneficiary can be drafted to pass plan distributions out to a beneficiary (conduit) or retain them (accumulation), but qualification, payout timing, tax rate, protection, and beneficiary eligibility must be analyzed under current retirement law.
Idée clé : A trust is not automatically a designated beneficiary for retirement-rule purposes.
Lire le guide completA SLAT is an irrevocable lifetime gift trust created by one spouse for the other spouse and often descendants, seeking to move assets outside the donor's estate while preserving indirect family access through discretionary distributions.
Idée clé : The donor should not retain an enforceable right to trust property.
Lire le guide completA state estate tax is generally assessed by reference to the estate, while an inheritance tax generally depends on what a beneficiary receives and the beneficiary's class; domicile and in-state property can both matter.
Idée clé : State thresholds, rates, deductions, elections, and forms do not necessarily follow federal law.
Lire le guide completA third-party special needs trust holds assets contributed by someone other than the beneficiary and gives a trustee discretion to supplement the beneficiary's life without assuming the trust is invisible to every benefit program.
Idée clé : Third-party and first-party trusts are not interchangeable.
Lire le guide completA Crummey trust gives beneficiaries temporary, real withdrawal rights intended to make contributions present-interest gifts for annual-exclusion purposes; the rights, notices, funding, and trustee conduct must be genuine.
Idée clé : The name comes from a judicial doctrine, not a separate statutory trust form.
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