Trusts & Estates Trends

Issue 1 / Summer 2009

• Is Your Estate Plan Constructed on a Solid Foundation? What better place to start the initial SGR newsletter on estate planning and wealth protection techniques than with a discussion of basic estate planning principles? For most of you, this article will serve to remind you of the fundamentals on which your estate plan has been built. For others, it may provide the building blocks for the construction of your estate plan.
• Where Is the Cash? Frequently we hear stories about family members, acquaintances, home health care workers, and even clergy financially abusing the elderly and infirm. Sometimes their assets are stolen with the victim’s “cooperation,” as when the victim is influenced for the sake of “convenience” to execute a power of attorney or joint account designation.
• News You Can Use Important news you can use.
• Charitable Remainder Trust A Charitable Remainder Trust (“CRT”) is a split interest trust wherein you retain the right to receive a certain amount each year (expressed as a percentage of the assets or as a fixed annuity) (“Income Interest”) and whatever remains at the end of the trust passes to charity (“Remainder Interest”). A CRT may terminate (1) upon an individual income beneficiary’s death, (2) within twenty years of formation, or (3) the later of the two. The person who establishes the CRT (the “grantor”) receives an income, gift, or estate tax deduction equal to the actuarial value of the remainder interest.
• Shifting Wealth: Using a GRAT in the Sale of Your Business If you are thinking about selling your business in the next few years, consider implementing some estate planning techniques now that will enable you to shift some of the sale proceeds to your descendants or other beneficiaries. One of the techniques that we successfully use is a GRAT.