3 Big Tax Issues to Look Out for in Your Estate Plan

There are three big tax issues that can derail an otherwise well-executed estate plan. These include Family Limited Partnerships, Revocable Trust Swap Powers and Trust Situs. Below we explore the pitfalls with each issue.

Fixing FLPs

Family Limited Partnerships (FLP) are often created to hold investments or business assets in order to leverage a valuation discount, exert control and provide asset protection.

First, to understand the valuation discount, take the example in which an FLP owned a family business valued at $10 million. A straight 25 percent interest in this business would therefore be worth $2.5 million. However, due to valuation discounts for a non-controlling interest that would not be readily available for sale or able to control liquidation, the 25 percent might actually be valued at $1.7 million for estate tax purposes.

Second, FLPs also could be set up to allow the founder or parents to control operations even after a majority of their interest is given away.

Lastly, FLPs can protect assets. If an interest owner is sued, the claimant might not be able to exercise their claim, especially if they sued a minority interest holder. Instead, they could be limited to receiving a charging order. A charging order limits the claimant to only the distributions that interest holder would be entitled to and protects the other owners.

FLPs that ignore legal upkeep and technical legal formalities can jeopardize these the protection benefits by causing the FLP entity to be disregarded. Common errors include co-mingling personal and entity assets and ignoring the legal requirements to have current signed governing instruments.

On the valuation front, many FLPs were set up to provide valuation discounts at a time of significantly lower estate tax exemptions. Not only is this unnecessary, but the valuation discount can actually hinder the heirs by passing along a lower asset value when the basis is stepped up at death.

Swap Powers

Traditionally, irrevocable trusts are by definition trusts that cannot be altered (hence the name irrevocable). Uses include carving out assets from an estate to better protect the assets and provide tax savings.

Irrevocable trusts are often structured as “grantor” trusts for income tax benefit purposes. Grantor trusts allow the grantor to report the trust income on their individual 1040, effectively having the grantor pay the tax burden and bypass the trust. This strategy can reduce the grantor’s estate.

There are numerous ways to create grantor trust status. Including swap powers is the most common. Swap powers allow the swapping of personal assets for trust assets of equivalent value. The problem with swap powers is that little attention is paid to them and they aren’t exercised in the right circumstances, leading to adverse income tax consequences.

It’s best to review the value of trust assets annually or even more often if the grantor is in poor health so you know when to exercise the swap powers. It’s also a good idea to involve your estate planning attorney and CPA if you are going to exercise the swap powers. This will ensure the swap is handled according to the rules of the trust document and properly reported on your tax returns.

Trust Situs Selection

Trust situs is the state where your trust is based. It determines which state law administers and rules the trust. Frequently, the trust situs is simply set up in the same state where the trust creator is a resident.

While simple, using a home state as the trust situs is not always best. A person’s home state may not provide the best protections or state taxation. The way around this is to “rent” a different trust jurisdiction. Doing so can allow you to lower or altogether avoid state income taxes. You’ll have to factor in the costs to do so as there will be more legal fees and trustee fees since an institution will need to hold the trust to create the state nexus. Overall, you can often come out ahead.

Conclusion

The best thing you can do is to review your current or potential trust with your estate planning attorney and CPA. This way you can stay on top of both the formalities and mechanisms in place to maximize the protections and benefits of the trust.