The preservation of wealth for current and future generations requires active planning. Whether earned or inherited, wealth can easily be eroded by taxes, creditors’ claims, economic downturns, healthcare costs and imprudent spending. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, we will develop a flexible customized solution to fit your family’s unique needs.
Planning with trusts can reduce or eliminate income, gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax, protect trust assets from the claims of a beneficiary’s creditors, and preserve assets for surviving spouses and for spendthrift, disabled and under age beneficiaries.
Certain states, such as Alaska and Delaware, allow the establishment of perpetual, self-settled trusts in which the grantor is a beneficiary. These trusts provide creditor protection for the grantor as well as the beneficiaries. Their perpetual duration can eliminate transfer tax in all future generations.
Grantor trusts have unique properties that promote estate freezing opportunities. Transfers to such trusts of appreciating assets can substantially reduce future estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes.
We will strategize with you to determine the best type of trust to meet your needs. We will also explore the formation, structure and operation of corporations, family limited partnerships, and limited liability companies to own your business and investment assets. The value of your interest in these entities, when transferred by gift, by sale or at death, can often be discounted to take into account a minority interest, a lack of control, or a lack of marketability. Taking advantage of these discounts can reduce overall transfer taxes in your estate.