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Estate Planning Archives | Wealthspire Advisors

May 07 2020
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mortgage invest

Estate Planning 101

By Guides & Whitepapers
The purpose of this white paper is to provide you with an overview of estate planning basics. Establishing or revising an estate plan first and foremost involves making a series of decisions, some of which can be daunting. We hope the information below serves as a useful guide during this process. What is an estate plan and why do I need one? Contrary to popular belief, estate planning typically involves more than just signing a Will. It generally involves two sets of considerations: lifetime planning and testamentary planning. Lifetime planning may involve choosing decision-makers to make health or financial decisions…
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Apr 19 2020
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planning opportunities

Planning Strategies to Consider in a Volatile Environment

By and Blog
While the Coronavirus pandemic has brought its share of fear and anxiety, it also brings some favorable financial planning opportunities that can be of significant benefit for you and your family. Below are some opportunities to consider. 1. Harvesting Capital Losses: An approximate 20% decline in equity markets from the early year high, along with volatility in sectors of fixed income markets have caused security values to decline.  As we periodically rebalance portfolios, in taxable accounts we look to realize capital losses and replace sold positions with similar, but not identical, securities to maintain desired exposures. When we “harvest” capital…
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Apr 08 2020
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charitable remainder trust

Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs)

By Guides & Whitepapers
What is a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT)? It is a trust where non-charitable beneficiaries (usually the grantor and grantor’s spouse) receive payments at least annually during their lives or for a number of years, and a charity receives the trust assets remaining at the end of the trust term. A charitable trust is also referred to as a “split interest trust”. This is because the beneficial interests in the trust are “split” between the initial non-charitable beneficiaries and the charitable beneficiaries that receive what remains at the end of the trust term. We will refer to the initial non-charitable beneficiaries…
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Mar 11 2020
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intra-family loans

Intra-Family Loans

By Guides & Whitepapers
One of the most flexible and powerful gifting techniques is to loan money to other family members, especially in a period of low interest rates. The reason intra-family loans work is simple: on average, the person receiving the loan should be able to invest the money received in a way that produces a rate of return greater than the interest rate on the loan. Thus, when the borrower returns the loaned money at the end of the loan’s term, he will be able to keep this excess return. Because the money was loaned, and not gifted, this excess is tax-free,…
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Feb 26 2020
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creating trust

What to Consider When Creating a Trust

By and Blog, Guides & Whitepapers
You’ve decided to create and fund a trust as part of your overall estate plan. Now, you will need to make decisions that impact who controls the trust, how and when beneficiaries receive trust distributions, and how the trust is taxed. When creating a trust, here are the basic questions you will need to answer: Who are the beneficiaries? A trust can be for a single beneficiary or for multiple beneficiaries (often called a “pot trust”). Sometimes, a pot trust is created for a period of time, and then splits into separate shares at a later date. E.g., mom creates…
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Feb 11 2020
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tax law changes

Estate Planning in Light of Tax Reform: Your Questions and Our Answers – 2020 Update

By and Blog
This post will help you unpack some of the estate and gift tax provisions of the 2017 Tax Reform Act, as well as answer some of the most pressing questions raised by the changes. In a nutshell, what stayed the same and what changed? One major item that stayed the same is the simple existence of an estate tax. The initial tax reform bill from the House called for a complete elimination of the estate tax, which didn’t make its way into the final law. Trump had also talked about altering the current date-of-death basis step-up for gains above a…
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Jan 27 2020
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IDGT

What is an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT)?

By Guides & Whitepapers
Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (“IDGTs”) are a commonly used estate planning vehicle to transfer wealth to family members during the life of the grantor. In this White Paper we will explore the four tax types relevant to IDGTs, and the mechanics of how IDGTs work. The use of the phrase “intentionally defective” is confusing, but it simply refers to an irrevocable trust where the grantor pay the trust’s income tax bill during his or her life. What taxes relate to an IDGT? There are four types of taxes to consider: estate, gift, generation-skipping transfer (GST) and income. An IDGT allows…
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Jan 27 2020
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cliff

Mitigate New York’s Estate Tax Cliff with Smart Estate Planning and Gifting Strategies – 2020 Update

By and Blog
While the large increase in the federal estate tax exemption has provided many with federal estate tax relief, New Yorkers must continue to plan for New York estate tax. For a quick review of the New York Estate Tax “Cliff” basics, see the “Understanding New York’s Estate Tax “Cliff” blog post. What is the current exemption from New York estate tax again? The current New York estate tax exemption amount is $5,850,000 for 2020. Under current law, this number will remain until January 1, 2021, at which point it will rise again with inflation. Who does the Cliff affect? Everyone…
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Jan 22 2020
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gst tax

Basics of Federal Estate, Gift and Generation-Skipping Transfer (“GST”) Tax – 2020 Update

By and Blog
The bad news is that there is a Federal tax on assets that you give away during life, at death, and to individuals two or more generations below you. The good news is that this tax will only apply to the wealthiest Americans and, even so, there are strategies you can use to minimize or avoid its application. The Federal estate, gift and GST tax only kicks in above a certain dollar threshold. Furthermore, there are additional wealth transfer strategies that do not trigger any tax at all if structured properly. Taxable Gifts There is a Federal estate and gift…
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