Family Trusts: Planning to Preserve, Protect, and Transfer Wealth for Your Clients (Currently Unavailable)

Author: Steven G. Siegel

Clients often seek guidance on how to best set aside money, property and investments for family members, friends and other individuals they want to help — their beneficiaries. These clients often want these assets to be managed according to specific parameters with special protections.

This is where family trusts can be established to accomplish these objectives and benefit other parts of the client's financial and estate plan. Family trusts may take different forms and, if properly created as to avoid classification as a business entity and the advantages and disadvantages of taxing the income to the grantor, they can present several opportunities for tax savings. Family trusts can be funded without gift tax cost while reducing the settlor's gross estate and producing family income tax savings through the shifting of income-generating assets from the estate owner to the trust and its beneficiaries, presumably in lower income tax brackets.

Presented by noted estates and trusts practitioner, author and educator, Steven G. Siegel, J.D., LL.M., this insightful session will provide a practical primer on family trusts, describing what they are and how they are most commonly used to achieve a range of objectives for clients. This convenient and helpful two-hour CPE course is designed for practitioners who want to understand how family trusts can be used to preserve, protect and transfer wealth. Mr. Siegel will discuss the fundamental concepts, terminology, and uses of family trusts, so you can feel more confident in your discussions with clients regarding trusts.

Publication Date: May 2017

Designed For
This course is essential for CPAs, tax preparers, accountants, enrolled agents, tax attorneys and other professionals who advise clients on tax, retirement and estate planning, and other wealth management matters.

Topics Covered

• Why are family trusts useful and necessary?
• What are the elements of a family trust?
• Trusts used to protect the interest of the grantor
• Trusts to benefit the family as a whole
• Trusts to benefit a surviving spouse
• Trusts to benefit minor children
• Trusts to hold life insurance proceeds
• Trusts to benefit multiple generations of the family
• Trusts to include benefits for charities
• Trusts to address special family assets (S corporation shares, homes, business property, etc.)

Learning Objectives

• Describe what family trusts are and how they can be used to accomplish a range of client objectives
• Explain to clients the different types of family trusts and their advantages and disadvantages
• Differentiate functions of a family trust
• Identify reasons to create a living trust
• Recognize attributes of qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) of an estate trust or a power of appointment trust
• Describe advantages of using an irrevocable trust to hold life insurance proceeds
• Identify benefits of having a qualified personal residence trust (QPRT)
• Recognize how a grantor can avoid transferring property with low basis from an intentionally defective grantor trust (IDGT)
• Identify who can be a trustee
• Differentiate when charitable remainder unitrusts (CRUTS) are preferable to charitable remainder annuity trusts (CRATS)
• Recognize who is permitted to be an S corporation shareholder
• Identify what a grantor can do to avoid gift tax with a GRAT
• Differentiate fiduciary obligation of a trustee
• Recognize the Crummey withdrawal power limitations
• Identify how the portion of an electing small business trust (ESBT) that consists of S corporation stock is treated
• Describe how to name a trust as beneficiary of a retirement plan

Level
Basic

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Taxes (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
None

Advance Preparation
None