Unfortunately, estate planning opportunities tend to be hard to time. Practically speaking, you tend to not be “done” with your estate when the law creates a planning window. Certainly, that was the joke in 2010 when the estate tax lapsed and it become “the year to die.” [Just ask the family of George Steinbrenner!] As I and many others have noted previously, both 2011 and 2012 are incredibly favorable years for gifting. While the law (and other factors) have made these scant two years such a great window, that doesn’t mean you’re done with those assets of your estate you…
July offers a GRAT opportunity to make some strategic estate planning moves. The IRS just published the applicable federal rates (AFR) for July: Section 7520 Interest Rate: 2.4% Applicable Federal Mid-term, Annual Rate: 2.0% These rates continue to slide, and are set now at historical lows. These low rates make certain estate planning opportunities much more attractive, to include: loans to family members installment sales to grantor trusts grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) and charitable lead annuity trusts (CLATs). A recent article in Forbes focuses primarily on the GRAT opportunity for savvy planners. As Forbes writes, GRATs are particularly attractive…
Every month, the IRS quietly makes a mostly-unheralded announcement of the current Applicable Federal Rate (AFR) for determining the present value of an annuity, an interest for life or a term of year, or a remainder or reversionary interest under Section 7520. Ha! If you made it through that sentence, then you already know why this announcement goes mostly un-noticed by most mainstream media! However, if you are charitably-inclined, or want to make a large, nontaxable gift to your heirs, it could be very important for you to know that the November rate is set at an all-time low of…
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