Read more about the article What Happens When Gift and Estate Tax Exemptions Change? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

What Happens When Gift and Estate Tax Exemptions Change? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

The federal lifetime gift and estate tax exclusion will increase for inflation in 2023 to $12.93 million.  There may be similar increases for inflation in 2024 and 2025, according to a recent article from Think Advisor titled “The Estate and Gift Tax Exclusion Shrinks in 2026. What’s an Advisor to Do?”

This is the good news for wealthy Americans. However, there’s bad news in the near future. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, these historically high levels will end on December 31, 2025. Estate and gift exclusions will drop to the pre-2017 level of $5 million, adjusted for inflation. Estimates for 2026 vary, but most expect the amount may reach $6.8 million per person.

For Americans who saw the value of their homes and portfolios increase in the last ten years, this level becomes uncomfortably close when considering the overall value of their estate. Here’s some help on how to minimize estate taxes in coming years.

What is the Estate and Gift Tax Exclusion in 2023?

Every year the annual estate and gift tax exclusion is adjusted for inflation. Gifts at or below this amount are not counted towards your lifetime exemption. For example, in 2022, the annual exclusion was $16,000 and in 2023, it is $17,000.

If you haven’t made any gifts to remove assets from your estate before 2026, your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption will revert to 2026 levels. If you made gifts prior to 2026, several different scenarios may apply.

If the amount of your gift was less than the exemption amount in place in 2026 or beyond, your remaining exclusion will be the amount of the exemption minus the amount of your lifetime gifts. Let’s say the exclusion is $6.8 million and you’ve given $3 million in lifetime gifts. The remaining exclusion would be $3.8 million. Any gifts over this amount would be subject to estate taxes.

If the amount of your gifts before 2026 exceeded the limit in place, the exemptions from the old limits will apply to those gifts. However, there won’t be any additional exemptions. Here’s an example: if you made $9 million in gifts before 2026, this would be your exemption amount upon your death. There would be no additional exemption for 2026 or beyond, unless the inflation-adjusted exemption exceeded $9 million in the future.

To be blunt, the higher exemption amounts in place are “use it or lose it.” Any difference between the higher exemption amounts and the post-2025 reduced amounts will be lost if not used. Any gifts made in excess of the higher exemptions in place before 2026 will still fall under the higher exemption upon death.

There are steps to be taken to reduce your taxable estate and make the most of the current limits. Which steps to take depends on the size of the estate, the nature of heirs, marital status, health status and other factors.

One strategy is to spend down assets. Take the big vacations, travel to out-of-town sporting events, enjoy the wealth you worked so hard to accumulate. This lifestyle can add up over time and fit in with an overall plan of minimizing your taxable estate.

Gifting to charity is another excellent way to reduce the size of a taxable estate while building a legacy. Current-year gifts of cash appreciated securities and other assets can provide a tax deduction to also reduce current year income taxes. Contact us to speak with one of our experienced estate planning attorneys about using a Donor Advised Fund, Charitable Lead Trust, or Charitable Remainder Trust.

If you are married, assets left to a surviving spouse have no estate tax consequences, except for a non-citizen spouse, who may not benefit from the unlimited marital deduction rules. One option is for the surviving spouse to elect to take the decedent spouse’s unused lifetime exclusion.

Reference: Think Advisor (Dec. 7, 2022) “The Estate and Gift Tax Exclusion Shrinks in 2026. What’s an Advisor to Do?”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Read more about the article Who Needs a SLAT Trust? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Who Needs a SLAT Trust? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

The most common estate planning technique used in 2020-2021, according to a recent article from Think Advisor, was the Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT). The SLAT has become increasingly popular for married couples at or above the current estate planning exemption level, as described in the article “9 Reasons This Popular Trust Isn’t Just for the Super-Wealthy.”

SLATs allow couples to move assets out of their estates and, in most cases, out of the reach of both creditors and claimants. Each spouse can still access the assets, making the SLAT a valuable tool for retirement.

In the past, SLATs were not used as often for clients with $1 million to $10 million in net worth. However, the SLAT accomplishes several objectives: optimizing taxes, protecting assets from creditors and addressing concerns related to aging.

Lock in Estate Tax Exemptions Among Uncertainty. SLATs are a good way to secure estate tax exemptions. Various proposals to slash the current estate tax exemptions before the sunset date (see below) makes SLATs an attractive solution.

Potential Restrictions to Grantor Trusts. There has been some talk in Washington and the Treasury about restricting Grantor Trusts. The SLAT eliminates concern about any future changes to these trusts.

Upcoming Change in Estate, Gift and GST Exemptions. When the 2017 tax overhaul expires in 2026, the gift, estate and generation skipping trust exemption will be cut in half. Now is the time to maximize those exemptions.

A Possible Planning Tidal Wave. There may be a big movement to act as 2026 draws closer and SLATs become a tool of choice. Before the wave hits and Congress reacts, it would be better to have assets protected in advance.

SLATs Work Well for Married Couples. Each spouse contributes assets to a SLAT. The other spouse is named as a beneficiary. The assets are removed from the taxable estate, securing the exemption before 2026 and assets are protected from claimants and creditors.

You Might Meet the Estate Tax Threshold in the Future. Even if your current estate doesn’t meet the high threshold of today, if it might reach $6 million in 2026, having a SLAT will add protection for the future.

Income Tax Benefits. A trustee can distribute funds and income to a beneficiary in a no-tax state, saving state tax income tax, or if the trust may be formed in a no-tax state and possibly avoid the grantor’s high home state income tax.

Asset Protection Planning. Many people don’t think about asset protection until it’s too late. By starting now, when assets are below $10 million, the asset protection can grow as wealth grows.

Shrinking the Need for Other Trusts. Depending on their financial situation, a couple may be able to use a SLAT trust and avoid the need for other trusts requiring annual gifts and Crummey powers. The SLAT may also eliminate the need to have a trust for their children.

Speak with your estate planning attorney to learn if a SLAT is appropriate for your family, now and in the near and distant future. These are complex legal instruments, requiring skilled professional help in assessing their value to your estate.

Reference: Think Advisor (Nov. 16, 2022) “9 Reasons This Popular Trust Isn’t Just for the Super-Wealthy”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Read more about the article Do Unified Credit Gift Tax Exclusions Work? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Do Unified Credit Gift Tax Exclusions Work? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Most people know they pay taxes on earnings and when money grows. However, there are also taxes when money or other assets are given away or passed to another after death. The unified tax credit is central to estate planning, says a recent article titled “What Are The Unified Credit’s Gift Tax Exclusions?” from yahoo!.

First, what is the Unified Tax Credit? Sometimes called the “unified transfer tax,” the unified tax credit combines two separate lifetime tax exemptions. The first is the gift tax exclusion, which concerns assets given to other individuals during your lifetime. The other is the estate tax exemption, which is the value of an estate not subject to taxes when it is inherited. Your estate or heirs will only pay taxes on the portion of assets exceeding this threshold.

The unified tax credit is an exemption applied both to taxable gifts given during your lifetime and the estate you plan to leave to others.

If you would rather gift with warm hands while living, you can pull from this unified credit and avoid paying additional taxes on monetary gifts in the year you gave them. However, if you’d rather keep your assets and distribute them after death, you can save the unified credit for after death. You can also use the unified tax credit to do a little of both.

The unified tax credit changes regularly, depending on estate and gift tax regulations. The gift and estate tax exemptions doubled in 2017, so the unified credit right now sits at $12.06 million per person in 2022. This will expire at the end of 2025, when credits will drop down to lower levels, unless new legislation passes.

Up to 2025, a married couple can give away as much as $24.12 million without having to pay additional taxes. The recipient of this generous gift would not have to pay additional taxes either. If you consider the rate of estate taxes—40%—optimizing this unified tax credit means a lot more money stays in your loved one’s pockets.

How does it work? Let’s say you have four children and each one is going to receive a taxable gift of $500,000. You can pull from your unified tax credit the same year you give these gifts. This way, there’s no need for you to pay gift taxes on the $2 million.

However, this generosity will reduce your lifetime unified credit from $12.06 million to $10.06 million. If you die and leave an estate worth $11.5 million, your heirs will need to pay estate taxes on the $1.44 million difference.

At current estate tax rates, roughly $700,000 would go to the IRS, or more, depending upon your state!

The unified tax credit doesn’t take into account or apply to annual gift exclusions. These annual exclusions allow you to give away even more money during your lifetime and it doesn’t count against your unified limit. As of 2022, taxpayers may give $16,000 per year to any individual as a tax-exempt gift. You can give $16,000 to as many people as you wish each year without being subject to gift taxes. This is a simple way to gift with warm hands without paying gift taxes or reducing the unified limit. The annual gift is per person, so if you are married, you and your spouse may give, $32,000 per year to as many people as you want, and the gift is excluded.

Taxable gifts exceeding the annual gift exclusion amount must be properly documented and should be done in concert with your overall estate plan. They offer great tax advantages, and perhaps more importantly, provide the giver with the joy of seeing their wealth translate into a better life for their loved ones.

Reference: yahoo! (Nov. 18, 2022) “What Are The Unified Credit’s Gift Tax Exclusions?”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Estate Planning for Changing Economic Times – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Estate plans created during a historically low interest rate environment may need to be re-examined and new techniques considered, according to a recent article titled “Estate Planning For A New Day” from Financial Advisor.

Inflation changes the future value of assets and the value of real estate and taxes due on distributions. For an estate plan to succeed, it is critical to know the value of the assets and how the value of those assets change over time. Accurately determining the value of an estate is necessary to measure any potential estate tax liabilities and plan for their payment.

Inflation may also impact how much is gifted during life or after death without paying federal estate taxes. These exemption levels are reevaluated every January 1 and increase, if warranted, by inflation.

Inflation will cause the federal estate and gift tax exemptions to increase significantly in January 2023, which will give wealthier clients the ability to make large gifts in 2023. For 2022, the exclusion for gifts other than those for medical or educational purposes is $16,000 per donor. However, gifts over that amount count towards the lifetime exemption, currently at $12.06 million per person. The lifetime exemption works jointly with the estate tax exemption and also covers transfers gifted through the estate.

How much these amounts are adjusted is determined by federal inflation estimates, which are not always accurate. If real inflation exceeds the government’s projections, an estate could become taxable due to inflation alone. Once the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires in 2025, the exemption amounts are set to take a nosedive.

Unless Congress acts, on Jan. 1, 2026, the lifetime exemption amount will revert to its old level, or even lower. Now is the time to look into using those exemptions.

Some professionals believe inflation has little impact on estate planning, which is by its nature a long-term matter and not subject to daily ups and downs of markets or news cycles. However, inflation is tied to interest rates, and rising interest rates need to be considered since they impact estate planning strategies.

Charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) are more attractive now because of higher interest rates. The initial donation to the trust is partially tax-deductible and any income generated by the trust is tax exempt. The trust, which is irrevocable, then distributes income to the grantor or beneficiary for a specified period of time. At the conclusion of the time period, the remainder is donated to charity.

GRATS and QPRTs are less advantageous, since they rely on declining interest rates. GRATS allow assets to be locked into irrevocable trusts for a set period of time, during which the beneficiaries can draw an annual income at interest rate set by the IRS. When the term expires, any appreciation of the original assets, minus the payout rate, passes to heirs with little or no gift taxes.

Qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs) allow users to lock away the value of a residence in an irrevocable trust for a period of time. The grantor can remain in the home and keep partial interest in its value. Afterwards, the rest of the value, determined by the IRS, is transferred to heirs. The goal is to remove the family home from the estate and decrease the gift tax incurred by otherwise transferring the asset. However, if the grantor dies before the trust expires, the value of the residence is included in the estate and taxed with it.

Your estate planning attorney will be able to review your current estate plan with an eye to rising interest rates and inflation and deem which strategies still work, which don’t and how best to move forward. This has been a general overview and individual counsel is critical.

Reference: Financial Advisor (Oct. 1, 2022) “Estate Planning For A New Day”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Are You Ready for 2026? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

You may not be thinking about Jan. 1, 2026. Any New Year’s Eve celebrations being planned now are more likely to concern Jan. 1, 2023. However, if your estate is worth $5 million or more when the first day of 2026 arrives, your estate planning should begin now. According to a recent article from Forbes, “Is 2026 An Important Year For Your Wealth?,” the reduction in the estate tax exemption will revert to the 2010 level of $5 million adjusted for inflation. It could go even lower. With federal tax rates on estates over the exemption level set at 40%, plus any state estate or inheritance taxes, planning needs to be done in advance.

Considering the record levels of national debt and government spending, it’s unlikely these exemptions will remain the same. Now is the time to maximize today’s high estate tax exemption levels to minimize federal estate taxes and maximize what will be left to heirs.

Your estate planning attorney will have many different strategies and tools to achieve these goals. One is the Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT). This is an irrevocable trust created by each spouse, known as the grantors, for the benefit of the other spouse. Important note: to avoid scrutiny, the trusts must not be identical.

Each trust is funded by the grantor in an amount up to the current available tax exemption. Today, this is $12.06 million each (or a total of $24.12 million) without incurring a gift tax.

This serves several purposes. One is removing the gifted assets from the grantor’s estate. The assets and their future growth are protected from estate taxes.

The spousal beneficiary has access to the trust income and/or principal, depending upon how the trust is created, if they need to tap the trust.

The trust income may be taxed back to the grantor instead of the trust. This allows the assets in the trust to grow tax-free.

Remainder beneficiaries, who are typically the grantor’s children, receive the assets at the termination of the SLAT, usually when the beneficiary spouse passes away.

The SLAT can be used as a generation-skipping trust, if this is the goal.

The SLAT is a useful tool for blended families to avoid accidentally disinheriting children from first (or subsequent) marriage. Remainder assets can be distributed to named beneficiaries upon the death of the spouse.

The SLAT is an irrevocable trust, so some control needs to be given up when the SLATs are created. Couples using this strategy need to have enough assets to live comfortably after funding the SLATS.

Why do this now, when 2026 is so far away? The SLAT strategy takes time to implement, and it also takes time for people to get comfortable with the idea of taking a significant amount of wealth out of their control to place in an irrevocable trust. For a large SLAT, estate planning attorneys, CPAs and financial advisors generally need to work together to create the proper structure. Executing this estate planning strategy takes time and should not be left for the year before this large change in federal estate taxes occurs.

Contact us to begin planning your SLAT strategy with one of our experienced estate planning attorneys today.

Reference: Forbes (Oct. 4, 2022) “Is 2026 An Important Year For Your Wealth?”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Can You Gift Money on Your Deathbed? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

A new case out of Tax Court centers on the question of when a “deathbed gift” is considered acceptable for estate and gift tax purposes. The powerful tax law provisions used to help many taxpayers avoid federal estate tax, or reduce it to a manageable size, makes this an important decision, especially as we draw closer to a time when estate tax exemption is likely to return to a far lower number.

The two tax law provisions, described in the article “Tax Court Says When Deathbed Gifts Are Complete” from accounting WEB, are the following:

Annual gift tax exclusion. A taxpayer may give gifts to recipients under the annual gift tax exclusion without incurring any gift taxes. The exclusion, indexed for inflation in $1,000 increments, is $16,000 per recipient in 2022. It’s doubled to $32,000 for joint gifts made by a married couple. Estates can be reduced significantly with planned use of the annual gift tax exclusion. For instance, if a taxpayer and a spouse give the maximum $16,000 to five relatives for five years in a row, they will have transferred $800,000 ($32,000 x 5 x 5) out of their estate, free of taxes.

Unified estate and gift tax exemption. In addition to the annual gift exemption, gifts may be sheltered from tax by the unified estate and gift tax exemption. As of this writing, the exemption is $10 million, indexed for inflation, which brings it to $12.06 million in 2022. It is scheduled to drop to $5 million, plus inflation indexing, in 2026.

Using the exemption during the taxpayer’s lifetime reduces the available estate shelter upon death. These two provisions give even very wealthy taxpayers a great deal of flexibility regarding liquid assets.

The new case came about as a result of a resident of Pennsylvania, who executed a Power of Attorney (POA) in 2007, appointing his son as his agent. The son was authorized to give gifts in amounts not exceeding the annual gift tax exclusion. From 2007 to 2014, the son arranged annual gifts to his siblings and other family members, in accordance with the POA.

The father’s health began to fail in 2015 and he passed away on September 11. On September 6, five days before he died, the son wrote eleven checks, totaling $464,000 from the father’s investment account.

Some recipients deposited the checks before the decedent’s death, but others did not. Only one check was paid by the investment account before the decedent’s death.

The question before the Tax Court: are the gifts complete and removed from the decedent’s estate?

According to the IRS, any checks deposited before death should be excluded from the taxable estate, but the Tax Court looked to the state’s law to determine the outcome of the other checks. The Tax Court ruled the checks not deposited in time must be included in the decedent’s taxable estate.

The estate planning lesson to be learned? Timing matters. If checks are written as part of the plan to minimize taxes, they must be deposited promptly to ensure they will be considered as gifts and reduce the taxable estate.

Reference: accounting WEB (Aug. 26,2022) “Tax Court Says When Deathbed Gifts Are Complete”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Will Making a Gift Conflict with Medicaid? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

People usually make gifts for three reasons—because they enjoy giving gifts, because they want to protect assets, or minimize tax liability. However, gifting in one’s elder years can have expensive and unintended consequences, as reported in the article “IRS standards for gifting differ from Medicaid” from The News-Enterprise.

The IRS gift tax becomes expensive, if gifts are large. However, each individual has a lifetime gift exemption and, as of this writing, it is $12.06 million, which is historically high. A married couple may make a gift of $24.12 million. Most people don’t get anywhere near these levels. Those who do are advised to do estate and tax planning to protect their assets.

The current lifetime gift tax exemption is scheduled to drop to $5.49 million per person after 2025, unless Congress extends the higher exemption, which seems unlikely.

The IRS also allows an annual exemption. For 2022, the annual exemption is $16,000 per person. Anyone can gift up to $16,000 per person and to multiple people, without reducing their lifetime exemption.

People often confuse the IRS annual exclusion with Medicaid requirements for eligibility. IRS gift tax rules are totally different from Medicaid rules.

Medicaid does not offer an annual gift exclusion. Medicaid penalizes any gift made within 60 months before applying to Medicaid, unless there has been a specific exception.

For Medicaid purposes, gifts include outright gifts to individuals, selling property for less than fair market value, transferring assets to a trust, or giving away partial interests.

The Veterans Administration may also penalize gifts made within 36 months before applying for certain VA programs based on eligibility.

Gifting can have serious capital gains tax consequences. Gifts of real estate property to another person are given with the giver’s tax basis. When real property is inherited, the property is received with a new basis of fair market value.

For gifting high value assets, the difference in tax basis can lead to either a big tax bill or big tax savings. Let’s say someone paid $50,000 for land 40 years ago, and today the land is worth $650,000. The appreciation of the property is $600,000. If the property is gifted while the owner is alive, the recipient has a $50,000 tax basis. When the recipient sells the property, they will have to pay a capital gains tax based on the $50,000.

If the property was inherited, the tax would be either nothing or next to nothing.

Asset protection for Medicaid is complicated and requires the experience and knowledge of an elder law attorney. What worked for your neighbor may not work for you, as we don’t always know all the details of someone else’s situation.

Reference: The News-Enterprise (Aug. 6, 2022) “IRS standards for gifting differ from Medicaid”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

How are Capital Gains in Irrevocable Trust Taxed? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Putting a home in an irrevocable trust may be done to protect the house from estate taxes, explains a recent article from Yahoo! Life titled “Do Irrevocable Trusts Pay the Capital Gains Tax?” However, what effect does this have on capital gains taxes?

An irrevocable trust is used to protect assets. Unlike a revocable trust, once an asset is placed within the trust, it is difficult to have the asset returned to the original owner. The trust is a separate legal entity and has its own taxpayer identification number.

Assets moved into a trust are permanently owned by the trust, until the trustee distributes assets to named beneficiaries or their heirs. Irrevocable trusts are often used to protect assets from litigation.

Capital gains taxes are the tax liabilities created when assets are sold. Typical assets subject to capital gains taxes include stocks, homes, businesses and collectibles. Capital gains taxes are usually lower than earned income taxes. For example, the top federal income tax rate is 37%, and the top capital gains tax rate is 20%. A single investor might pay no capital gains taxes if their taxable income is $41,675 or less (in 2022). Married copies filing joining also pay 0% capital gains if their taxable income is $83,350 or less.

Irrevocable trusts are the owners of assets in the trust until those assets are distributed, including any earned income. While it would seem that the irrevocable trust should pay taxes on earned income, this is not necessarily the case. If irrevocable trusts are required to distribute income to beneficiaries every year, then that makes the trust a pass-through entity. Beneficiaries pay taxes on the income they receive from the trust.

Capital gains are not considered income to such an irrevocable trust. Instead, any capital gains are treated as contributions to principal. Therefore, when a trust sells an asset and realizes a gain, and the gain is not distributed to beneficiaries, the trust pays capital gains taxes.

One of the tax benefits of home ownership is the ability to avoid the first $250,000 in capital gains profits on the sale of the home. For married couples filing jointly, the exemption is $500,000. The home must be a primary residence for two of the last five years.

What happens if you transfer your home to an irrevocable trust as part of your estate planning? Who pays the capital gains tax on the sale of a home in an irrevocable trust? Remember, the trust is a legal entity and not a person. The trust does not receive the $250,000 exemption.

Placing a home into an irrevocable trust can protect it from creditors and litigation, but when the home is sold, someone will have to pay the capital gains on the sale. Although irrevocable trusts are great for distributing assets to beneficiaries, they are also responsible for paying capital gains taxes.

An experienced estate planning attorney will help you to determine which is more important for your unique situation: protecting the home through the use of an irrevocable trust or getting the tax exemption benefit if the home sells.

Reference: Yahoo! Life (July 7, 2022) “Do Irrevocable Trusts Pay the Capital Gains Tax?”

 

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

The Future of Your IRA and How the SECURE Act Changed the Rules – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

An ongoing series of changes from Congress has estate planning lawyers paying close attention to what is going on in Washington. The IRS recently proposed more changes to IRAs, details of which are explained in this recent article “The Secure Act Changed Inherited IRA Rules. What’s an Advisor to Do?” from Think Advisor. Every time the laws change, new opportunities and new restrictions are presented.

Having to empty inherited IRAs within 10 years makes the IRA less attractive from an estate planning perspective. If your legacy plan included leaving significant assets through an IRA, there are a number of alternatives to consider. First, take a longer look at your estate through an estate planning, inheritance and tax planning lens. Do you have enough funds to pay for the retirement you planned without the IRA? If not, the next steps may not apply to your situation.

What are your estate planning goals? If married, your spouse is probably the beneficiary on retirement accounts and life insurance policies. If you do not know who is named as your intended beneficiary, now is the time to check to be sure your beneficiaries are up to date.

Taxes come next, for you, your spouse and any non-spousal heirs. Withdrawals from traditional Roth IRAs are not generally taxable. Will anyone (besides your spouse) receiving the IRA be able to pay the taxes, or will they need to use the assets in the IRA to pay taxes?

The Roth IRA provides an excellent alternative to getting hurt by the SECURE Act’s 10-year restriction on inherited IRAs. Taxes are paid when the account is funded, there are no withdrawal requirements, and the accounts are free to grow over any length of time. Money in a traditional IRA may be converted to a Roth IRA, although you will be paying taxes on the conversion.

The Roth IRA conversion has a five-year requirement. Funds must be converted and remain in the account for five years before the more flexible Roth rules apply.

Roth IRAs may be passed to beneficiaries income-tax free. Non-spousal beneficiaries can take withdrawals from Roth IRAs tax-free as long as the five-year rule has been met. The beneficiaries can then use their inheritance as they wish, without the funds being diminished by higher taxes resulting from taking out large sums in a relatively short amount of time.

Roth IRAs are not exempt from federal estate taxes; just as traditional IRAs are not exempt. By making the conversion and paying the taxes upfront, however, you can at least minimize income taxes for heirs, even though you cannot eliminate the federal estate tax.

Rather than do the conversion all at once, consider doing a Roth IRA conversion over time, figuring out with your estate planning attorney the best way to do this to minimize your tax burden and adjust it for years when income is lower.

This flexible strategy with Roth IRAs can be used with all or a portion of the IRA, protecting part of the IRA for the next generation while using part of the funds for retirement. Your estate planning attorney will help you determine the best way to go forward, to meet your current and future needs.

Reference: Think Advisor (June 21, 2022) “The Secure Act Changed Inherited IRA Rules. What’s an Advisor to Do?”

 

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Is Your Estate Plan Ready for Tax Changes? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

After December 1, 2025, the federal estate tax exemption will fall back to $5 million (indexed for inflation) from the current $12 million level. Now is the time to use available estate planning strategies and ensure that your plan factors in changes in tax law, advises a recent article titled “Are Clients’ Current Estate Plans Soundproof for the Future?” from Financial Advisor.

For many families, structured and leveraged gifting is one of the most useful wealth transfer vehicles. A parent could use their GST and gift tax exemptions to make gifts to children, grandchildren and other family members before this tax law changes.

Here is an example, using a high-net-worth family. Bill and Sue are married, so they can make combined lifetime gifts of $24,120,000. They own a family business worth $10 million in equal shares. They transfer 20% of the business to their children. This is a minority stake, meaning the minority owners have no right to make relevant business decisions and vote on important issues. As a result, the minority stake is discounted and worth $1.3 million instead of $2 million for gift and estate tax purposes and Bill and Sue retain $700,000 more of their allotted exemption.

For lifetime transfers, the valuation date is the date of the gifting, but for transfers at death, the valuation date is the date of death. By using this valuation discount while they are living, Bill and Sue have reduced the value of their company for estate tax purposes, giving their children a percentage of the company in a manner costing less in terms of transfer tax.

By making these gifts in 2022, Bill and Sue have removed $24,120,000 from their estate tax free. They have also removed the appreciation on the assets gifted away from their estate. However—if the gift is not made and the federal estate tax exemption reduces to $6 million per person before their deaths in 2040, then when the second spouse dies, heirs or beneficiaries will receive significantly less than what they would have received if the gift was made prior to the reduction of the federal exemption.

There was concern about tax outcomes if the taxpayer makes gifts now and the exemptions are reduced sooner. However, the IRS Treasury Decision 9884 confirms there will be no claw backs under these circumstances.

If the parents are concerned about making outright gifts to chosen beneficiaries who are too young, immature, or vulnerable to creditors, other strategies can be used to allow them to maintain control, while protecting assets and locking in these estate and gift tax advantages. The grantor can execute a plan ensuring that the donor receives an income from the transferred asset and/or maintaining access to principal.

Speak with an experienced estate planning attorney to learn what strategies are available now to prevent overly burdensome estate taxes in the future. After all, 2025 is not as far away as it seems.

Reference: Financial Advisor (June 8, 2022) “Are Clients’ Current Estate Plans Soundproof for the Future?”

 

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys