Friday, October 22, 2010 Press Coverage of Estate Planning this Week (October 22, 2010)
Deborah L. Jacobs of the New York Times discusses the benefits of passing your residence to your children while you are still alive. Additionally, because gift taxes might be an issue, she recommends four strategies for minimizing or avoiding gift taxes on the transfer, including giving partial interests, using a grantor trust, creating a qualified personal residence trust (QPRT), and putting real estate into an LLC or other legal entity. See Leave the Children the House, Without a Hefty Tax Bill (Oct. 20, 2010).
Anne Tergesen of the Wall Street Journal writes about grantor retained annuity trusts (GRAT) and why low interest rates and depressed real estate values make this estate planning tool particularly timely. Congress has recently discussed tightening restrictions on GRATs, providing further incentive to consider a GRAT before new laws make them less appealing. See Hurry Up and Fund That Trust (Oct. 16, 2010). |