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Category Archives: Trusts
Special Needs Trusts
Elderly and disabled persons are peculiarly prone to significant and continuing costs for long-term care. Since many governmental benefits are need-based, ownership of substantial assets may preclude qualification under these programs.
A Special Needs Trust (SNT) established for a person with severe and chronic disabilities may enable a parent or family member to supplement Medicare or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), without adversely affecting eligibility under these programs, both of which impose restrictions on the amount of “income” or “resources” which the beneficiary may possess. 42 U.S.C. § 1382a. Continue reading
Posted in Elder Law, Supplemental Needs Trusts, Trusts
Tagged EPTL § 7-1.12, Medicaid, Medicare, SSI, supplemental needs trusts
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Life Insurance Trusts
Life insurance trusts have long assumed a position of importance in estate planning, especially for larger estates, since insurance proceeds may be excluded from the settlor’s gross estate, thereby reducing or eliminating estate taxes. These tax savings may be achieved if the trust is drafted to authorize (but not require) the trustee to purchase assets from, or loan money to, the estate. Continue reading
Trust May Compliment Prenuptial Agreement
The prenuptial agreement effec tively protects against the vagaries of marital dissolution. However, even a well-drafted prenuptial agreement will not always succeed in fully accomplishing this objective. For ex ample , the agreement will likely not prevent separate property from becoming marital property if as sets are commingled. Continue reading
Importance of Trusts in Estate Planning & Asset Protection
A trust beneficiary possesses an equitable interest, but not legal ownership, in trust property. Creditors of a trust beneficiary therefore cannot generally assert claims at law against the beneficiary’s equitable interest in trust assets. However, under common law, a settlor … Continue reading
Marital Deduction Planning
By making a QTIP election, the Executor will enable the decedent’s estate to claim a full marital deduction. To qualify, the trust must provide that the surviving spouse be entitled to all income, paid at least annually, and that no person may have the power, exercisable during the surviving spouse’s life, to appoint the property to anyone other than the surviving spouse. Since the Executor may request a 6 month extension for filing the estate tax return, the Executor in effect has 15 months in which to determine whether to make the QTIP election. Continue reading
Life Insurance Trusts Mitigate Estate Tax Uncertainties
To view printer-friendly Memorandum, press here: Life Insurance Trusts Mitigate Estate Tax Uncertainties.wpd Irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs) enjoy vastly preferential status under the income and transfer tax laws. Properly structured, proceeds are not included in the insured’s gross estate. … Continue reading
Delaware Dynasty Trusts
Traditionally, trusts were viewed primarily as a means to protect immature or dysfunctional beneficiaries from themselves. Traditional trusts typically terminated when a minor child attained a certain age. Dynasty Trusts, on the other hand, seek to maximize all of the benefits of the trust arrangement, which include asset protection and tax savings, as well as the traditional objective of protecting immature or spendthrift persons. In fact, the Dynasty Trust can serve as the centerpiece of an estate plan. Continue reading
Life Insurance Trusts
Life insurance can be an invaluable estate planning tool. It can provide a broad measure of financial security for loved ones as well as provide the liquidity necessary to meet tax and other estate settlement obligations. Ownership of a life … Continue reading
Posted in Life Insurance Trusts, Trusts
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Inter Vivos Trusts
As a testamentary instrument, the living trust possesses attractive attributes, especially for elderly testators. For younger persons, the will is generally preferable as a testamentary device. Property placed in a will passes automatically into the probate estate, where it may … Continue reading
Posted in Estate Planning, Inter Vivos Trusts, Trusts
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Defining the Scope of Trustee Powers
A. Introduction Early predecessors of modern trusts appeared in connection with land conveyances in England. Prior to the Statute of Wills, enacted by Parliament in 1540, it was impossible for a landowner to devise title in land to heirs. Moreover, … Continue reading
Posted in Estate Planning, Trustees, Trusts
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Rolling GRATs
A GRAT is a grantor trust for a term of years in which the grantor retains a fixed annuity interest and makes a gift of the remainder interest. The present value of the remainder interest is the amount of the … Continue reading
Posted in Estate Planning, GRATs, Trusts
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Life Insurance Trusts
Life insurance can be an invaluable estate planning tool. It can provide a broad measure of financial security for loved ones as well as provide the liquidity necessary to meet tax and other estate settlement obligations. Ownership of a life … Continue reading
Will May be Preferable to “Living Trust”
As a testamentary instrument, the living trust may be attractive for some elderly testators. For younger persons however, a Will is generally preferable. Despite statements to the contrary, a living trust is possessed of no inherent tax benefits. Furthermore, few, … Continue reading
Posted in Inter Vivos Trusts, Probate & Administration, Trusts, Wills
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New York Revised Legislation Re: Revocable Inter Vivos Trusts (October 1997)
New York attorneys have often looked closely at what revocable inter vivos trusts (RIVTs) have to offer as a testamentary substitute only to ultimately recommend against their use in favor of a Will. Although immensely popular in California and Florida, … Continue reading →