When it comes to effectively transferring assets, the Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRAT) is a popular estate planning strategy that can reduce the tax liability. In this interview, three attorneys discuss the benefits of GRAT and the securities law case, Donoghue v. Smith, involving that strategy.
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Private trust companies; profits interest structures; direct investments. The world of family wealth management is getting more complex all the time. As families and their office management teams evolve and learn best practices, there is a natural tendency to add more complexity to their structure and operations. Recently, we’ve seen this movement exhibit itself in several ways.Click here if you would like to participate in the survey.
Migrating trusts from state to state can be challenging. Use this decision tree as a resource when transferring trust situs from one state to another or when modifying a trust agreement following migration to a new state.
The ownership and governance structure of a private family trust company (“PFTC”) is highly customizable. This is important because all families are different, with different goals, family dynamics, asset composition, family sizes, and family affiliates. With that in mind, there are some key considerations in structuring the entity ownership and governance of a PFTC, both tax-related and not tax-related.
For one reason or another, many families are reevaluating and modifying their fiduciary structures. To assist in these discussions, a reference summary of state laws is provided for consideration when establishing wealth transfer plans and structures, including taxation, trust laws, asset protection, and regulated and unregulated private trust companies. This updated summary includes a broader aggregation of top U.S. trust jurisdictions, including Wyoming, Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Tennessee.
Estate planning is often part of a divorce settlement, and negotiation of these terms can be as integral to the divorce settlement as allocation of parental responsibilities, support issues, or division of marital estate. For example, even a relatively simple Marital Settlement Agreement may generally contain waivers of an ex-spouse’s right to make claims to the other party’s estate upon death, including rights to property and to act as a trustee or executor of the estate.
Continuing a trend of the past five years, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) grew in assets under management in 2020. However, the fact remains that the ETF continues to be a one-size-fits-all solution that isn’t optimal for everyone. The flexibility of a custom passive separately managed account (SMA) can beat an ETF in terms of tax efficiency in many cases. Three advantages of the SMA illustrate the benefits.
No matter your role – whether you’re a family business leader, family office executive, family member – how are you preparing your family for significant wealth transfer or liquidation events? Said differently, how can you make inheriting wealth less like being hit by a comet?
Originating in English common law, trusts have been used for centuries to manage holdings of the wealthy. Even though trusts are quite common, many people may find them hard to understand. Having an introduction to the trust basics is a good place to begin and learn how trusts are used in wealth management plans to help provide financial support for family members, protect family assets from a myriad of risks, and help mitigate taxes.
While laws in the United States generally allow trust property to be protected from the creditors of beneficiaries, there has traditionally been an exception to these protections where property in a trust is derived from a beneficiary’s own contributions to the trust. In rejecting this traditional rule, some states have modernized their laws, via statute, to allow creditor-protected self-settled trusts under certain circumstances. Some key provisions of these laws are summarized for comparison.