Estate Planning with Fexingo: Wills, Trusts, and Passing Wealth to Future Generations

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the slayer rule, a legal principle that prevents a murderer from inheriting from their victim. They discuss the rule's origins, state-by-state variations, and a key case: In re Estate of Mahoney (Michigan 2019), where the court applied the rule to a beneficiary who caused the decedent's death by reckless driving. The hosts also cover how the rule interacts w...

Most trusts are either rigid or too loose. Enter the beneficiary controlled trust, a hybrid that lets the beneficiary serve as trustee while protecting assets from creditors, divorce, and estate taxes. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down how the structure works, using a real-world example of a $3 million inheritance from a family business sale. They walk through the trust document's key pro...

Episode 77 of Estate Planning with Fexingo dives into the total return trust—a modern approach that lets trustees invest for total return (growth plus income) rather than being forced into low-yield bonds to meet an income distribution requirement. Lucas and Luna walk through a real case: a trust that held $2 million in a 60/40 portfolio, generating 2% income but 8% total return. Under a tradition...

Lucas and Luna break down the charitable remainder trust—a powerful estate planning tool that lets you donate assets to charity, receive income for life, and claim a tax deduction now. Using the real case of a 68-year-old retiree with $1.2 million in highly appreciated stock, they walk through how a CRAT works, the 10% minimum charitable remainder rule, and why the payout rate matters. They compar...

Episode 75 of Estate Planning with Fexingo explores the disclaimer trust — a powerful estate planning tool that lets your beneficiaries decide, after you pass, whether to accept or disclaim inherited assets into a separate trust. Lucas and Luna walk through a real-world example: a $5 million estate where the surviving spouse can disclaim part of the inheritance to reduce estate taxes, while still...

In this episode of Estate Planning with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explain how a Qualified Terminable Interest Property trust, or QTIP trust, can provide for a surviving spouse while controlling where the remaining assets go after the spouse dies. They walk through a real-world scenario: a blended family where the husband wants his wife to have income for life but wants the principal to eventually go...

In this episode of Estate Planning with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into the Charitable Lead Trust (CLT), an estate-planning tool that lets you donate income to charity for a set number of years while passing the remaining assets to your heirs at a steep tax discount. Lucas explains how a CLT differs from the more common Charitable Remainder Trust, using the example of a donor who funds a CLT wit...

Episode 72 of Estate Planning with Fexingo: When a spouse dies, the surviving partner faces a critical decision about the deceased's IRA. Lucas and Luna walk through the spousal rollover option versus the 'inherited IRA' treatment, using a real example: a 68-year-old widow with a $340,000 traditional IRA from her late husband. They explain the tax implications, the required minimum distribution di...

Episode 71 of Estate Planning with Fexingo explores the qualified disclaimer, a legal tool that lets a beneficiary refuse an inheritance and redirect it to another heir without gift or estate tax consequences. Lucas and Luna break down the nine strict IRS requirements for a valid disclaimer, using the real-world example of a surviving spouse who disclaims half of a $12 million IRA to keep the fami...

Episode 70 of Estate Planning with Fexingo breaks down the often-overlooked role of a durable power of attorney in estate planning. Hosts Lucas and Luna explain how a financial POA works alongside a will or trust, why springing powers can backfire, and what happens if you become incapacitated without one. They walk through a real-world case: a Florida business owner whose family spent 18 months an...

Episode 69 of Estate Planning with Fexingo explores the testamentary trust — a trust created inside your will that activates only after your death. Lucas and Luna break down how it differs from a living trust, why it's especially useful for minor children or blended families, and how it can provide ongoing asset protection for decades. They walk through a real-world example: a widow leaving $1.2 m...

Episode 68 of Estate Planning with Fexingo explores the Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT). Lucas explains how a SLAT lets a wealthy spouse gift assets to an irrevocable trust for their partner's benefit, while the donor can still indirectly access trust income through the spouse. He contrasts it with a traditional irrevocable life insurance trust, which typically offers no such flexibility. Lun...

Episode 67 of Estate Planning with Fexingo dives into the silo trust, a specialized strategy for families with agricultural land. Lucas and Luna walk through a real-world case: a Nebraska ranching family faced with a $12 million estate tax bill after the patriarch's death, even though the land generated only $80,000 in annual income. They explain how a silo trust segregates land from other assets,...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust, or ILIT. They explain how placing a life insurance policy inside an ILIT can keep the death benefit out of your taxable estate, potentially saving heirs hundreds of thousands in estate taxes. Using the example of a $2 million policy, they walk through how the trust works, who controls it, and the common pitfalls like t...

Lucas and Luna dive into Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs), a powerful estate-planning tool that lets high-net-worth families freeze the value of appreciating assets for tax purposes. Using the real-world example of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's reported GRAT strategy, they explain how a GRAT works—transferring stock or property into an irrevocable trust while retaining an annuity paym...

On this episode of Estate Planning with Fexingo, hosts Lucas and Luna explore how a Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT) can freeze your home's value for estate tax purposes. Using a real-world example of a $1.2 million home owned by a 65-year-old couple in California, they walk through how a QPRT works, the tax savings it can generate (potentially over $100,000 in estate tax), and the crucia...

In this episode of Estate Planning with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explain how a dynasty trust can protect your family wealth from estate taxes, creditors, and divorce for multiple generations. They use the example of a hypothetical family in South Dakota, where state law allows a trust to last perpetually. Lucas walks through the mechanics: how you fund the trust, appoint an independent trustee, and...

Lucas and Luna explain the Crummey power — a legal tool that turns non-taxable annual gifts into present-interest gifts eligible for the gift tax annual exclusion. They walk through the 1968 Crummey v. Commissioner case, the 30-day withdrawal window, and how modern trust drafting handles the notice requirement. Specific numbers: the 2026 annual exclusion is $20,000 per donee, and a typical Crummey...

Lucas and Luna explore how a family limited liability company (LLC) can protect assets from creditors, avoid probate, and facilitate generational wealth transfer—using a real-world example of a family ranch in Texas. They walk through the structure: how the parents contribute land and securities in exchange for ownership units, how they retain control as managing members while gifting non-voting u...

Lucas and Luna discuss why a properly filled-out beneficiary designation on your 401(k) and IRA can override your will entirely. They walk through the 2017 Supreme Court case Howell v. Howell, where a divorce decree said one thing but a beneficiary form said another, and the form won. They explain why beneficiary designations avoid probate, how to handle contingent beneficiaries, and what happens...

Episode 59 of Estate Planning with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna unpack the Heirloom Trust — a specialized tool that lets families donate art, antiques, or collectibles to a trust while retaining lifetime use, removing the asset from their taxable estate. They walk through the mechanics: how a qualified appraisal sets the charitable deduction, how the trust must comply with IRS rules on access and dispo...

Lucas and Luna explore the Net Gift Trust, an estate-planning strategy where the donee agrees to pay the gift tax in exchange for receiving highly appreciated assets. Using the example of a family-owned commercial real estate portfolio valued at $12 million with a cost basis of $3 million, they walk through how a net gift arrangement can reduce the donor's taxable estate by $9 million while the do...

In this episode of Estate Planning with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the life estate — a legal tool that lets a homeowner give their house to a child or heir while keeping the right to live there until death. They walk through a concrete example: a widowed mother in Florida transfers her $500,000 home to her son via a life estate, avoiding probate but creating a capital gains tax trap when the...

In episode 56 of Estate Planning with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the Total Return Trust (TRT) — a modern estate planning tool that replaces the traditional trust's duty to produce income with a flexible approach focused on total investment return. Using a real case of a $3 million trust for a widowed beneficiary, they explain how the TRT allows trustees to invest for growth without worrying a...

Episode 55 of Estate Planning with Fexingo dives into the difference between per stirpes and per capita beneficiary designations. Lucas and Luna walk through a real-world example: a family with three adult children, one of whom predeceases leaving two grandchildren. They explain why a per stirpes designation ensures assets flow to the deceased child's descendants, while per capita could accidental...