Legacy Planning, Once Removed

There are many ways for a client to incorporate charitable giving into planning, during life and upon death. That charitable giving can be a significant part of the client’s legacy, and it can result in tax advantages. Many of the exemptions that apply for gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax are adjusted for inflation each year. In this episode, Murphy will review those exemptions an...

There are many ways for a client to incorporate charitable giving into planning, during life and upon death. That charitable giving can be a significant part of the client’s legacy, and it can result in tax advantages. In a prior episode, Murphy discussed outright gifts and gift agreements. But some clients are not ready to decide which charities to benefit, nor when and how. For those clients, a...

Many clients ask about generation-skipping planning, or dynastic planning – ways to benefit future generations in a tax-efficient way. This episode reminds listeners of the scheduled “sunset” of the GST tax exemption at the end of 2025 and steps to consider in light of those changes in the law. Donors, beneficiaries and trustees should take this opportunity to make sure all their records are compl...

A significant change in tax law is scheduled to occur at the end of 2025: effective January 1, 2026, the estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions, currently $10 million per person (to be indexed for inflation), are scheduled to be cut in half, to $5 million (to be indexed for inflation). Starting in 2026, the ability for individuals to make tax-free gifts is scheduled to effect...

Clients often ask about ways to incorporate charitable giving into their planning, during life and upon death. Charitable giving can be an important part of the client’s legacy and can have tax advantages as well. There are a number of strategies, but the simplest option is as an outright gift. But outright gifts might be simple to a fault — once the funds are in the charity’s hands, the donor mig...

On this podcast, Steve talks about the best methods and structures to transfer wealth to ensure that the funds are used for their intended purposes. He also talks about ways to pass along values to beneficiaries or the next generation — values like hard work, humility, responsibility and respect. In this episode, Steve explores how golf (or activities like golf) can be a great environment for pass...

In this litigious and uncertain world, clients are increasingly concerned about asset protection — how to make sure assets are used for their intended purposes and for the benefit of the intended beneficiaries and not diverted to a creditor or other third party. Clients are not only concerned about formal creditors, they are also concerned about individuals who learn about the assets and seek to t...

On this episode we talk about the potential advantages of transferring wealth, but also the potential pitfalls — and the terrible irony that transferring wealth in the wrong way, at the wrong times or for the wrong reasons can sometimes have negative consequences.  In this episode, we explore the sad situation of a beneficiary who suffers from substance abuse. In this case, the donor may fear...

Many clients ask about a particular kind of trust called a “dynasty trust,” “perpetuities trust” or “generation-skipping trust.” There is no set way to draft these types of trusts — rather, these terms only emphasize the intent of the trust to benefit future generations. This episode discusses those trusts — or rather, their common features or elements, and how to incorporate these aspects into th...

On this podcast, Steve has emphasized that the estate plan is designed to carry out the intent of the testator or settlor. With that in mind, it is especially important for the client to communicate those wishes, so that the trustee, beneficiaries and other interested parties understand the settlor’s intent in situations that might arise, such as a beneficiary’s request for funds to purchase...

For parents with young children, naming the guardian who will raise their children upon the parents’ passing can be one of the most important and foundational questions of an estate plan. And in fact, because this decision is so personal and important, many clients find it daunting — and as a result, they might delay making the decision, or even delay putting in place their estate plan altogether....

On this podcast, we talk about the importance of flexibility in irrevocable trusts and estate planning. Once a trust is irrevocable, we can explore methods to modify that trust to address changed circumstances. But in the planning process, we can look ahead and build flexibility into the documents so that even after the testator’s passing, the plan can be updated in the future. One common method t...

As we have discussed on this podcast, legacy planning is not just about transferring money. It’s also about transferring values and relationships. And often the transfer of specific property goes hand-in-hand with the fostering of those values and relationships. To this end, many clients hope to pass along a family vacation home, farm or other gathering place to future generations. Practitioners a...

Many clients like the idea of helping a child, grandchild or other beneficiary with the purchase of a home to give the person a “head start” and a sense of independence. But this kind of transfer can have unanticipated, adverse consequences. This episode explores options and best practices for structuring transfers from a tax and non-tax perspective, and discusses how a trust may provide for such...

Because each donor is treated as a separate party for tax and other purposes, donors often involve others in making gifts. For example, a donor might transfer assets to his or her spouse, so the spouse actually makes the gift for tax purposes. These transfers might be especially important, given the possible “sunset” of current gift, estate and GST tax exemptions at the end of 2025.  How...

This podcast often discusses the elements of a trust, and how to grant access, control and flexibility to beneficiaries and trustees. But for tax and other purposes, the donor typically cannot retain those kinds of powers. Interestingly, the donor often can set up a trust for the benefit of a spouse, and grant the spouse that kind of access, control and flexibility — Episode 11 discussed that conc...

In previous episodes, we discussed the exemptions that apply for gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax. Many of these exemptions are adjusted for inflation each year. In Episode 16, we’ll review those exemptions and the adjustment for inflation in 2024, and we will look ahead to some potential changes in the law at the end of 2025. Summary and transcript: https://media.mcguirewoods.com...

The beginning of the year is a good time to think about annual gifts to descendants and other beneficiaries. Episode 17 will walk through some options to make efficient use of annual gifting and also address some potential pitfalls. Summary and transcript: https://media.mcguirewoods.com/events/2024/Legacy-Planning-Once-Removed-Ep17.pdf

For this podcast and in general, we think a lot about wealth and the transfer of wealth. Of course, we should define “wealth” broadly, to include not just money and property, but also relationships, values, history and wisdom. On this podcast in particular, we talk about ways to transfer wealth to encourage and foster the right kinds of values and behavior, rather than enabling the worst kinds. Th...

Celebrities Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis recently made the news with their comments about their estate planning. They plan to give all of their money to charity upon their deaths, as part of their plan to raise well-adjusted kids. In this episode, Steve unpacks the comments they have made about their estate plan. He identifies some opportunities and pitfalls, and he distills some lessons others c...

If you had to say where your will is located right now, could you? Despite the importance of that document, many clients are not sure where the original is located. In this episode, Steve discusses the case of Aretha Franklin’s will, and how the location of her will led to uncertainty and litigation regarding her true intent. In that case, two potential wills of Franklin’s were found in...

Steve Murphy, chair of the private wealth services group, dives deeper into the subject of SLATs in this episode. SLATs can work well with estate tax benefits and creditor protection benefits, all while giving the spouse access, flexibility, and control. But in the event of death or divorce, suddenly some of those advantages evaporate. To explain this, Steve explores the case of McKim vs. McKim, w...

Steve Murphy, chair of the private wealth services practice group at McGuireWoods, discusses the Spousal Lifetime Access Trust, also known as the SLAT. Steve explains the rights that your spouse can have in this trust through the categories of access, flexibility, and control. And it is ultimately up to you, the client, to determine what level of access, flexibility, and control you would like to...

In this episode, Steve discusses the importance of the rule-based power to remove and replace a trustee. He explores this topic through the Leo Kahn Revocable Trust case in Massachusetts. In this case, the settlor named three trustees, and one trustee eventually wanted to remove the other two. The trust, however, included provisions that prevented this action, which landed the matter in court to r...

In this episode, Steve provides insights on selecting a trustee of an ongoing trust, who may be the beneficiary or a third-party trustee. Steve will explain the advantages and disadvantages of each option, in addition to the three categories of functions your chosen trustee will manage. Read Summary & Transcript