A grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) is an advanced estate planning tool used to reduce an individual’s taxable estate by passing assets to trust beneficiaries free of estate and gift tax. However, like any advanced estate planning tool, GRATs can be complicated and must be structured properly to be beneficial. Dive into the following questions and answers to develop a better understanding of how GRATs work and how they may be useful for estate planning clients.

Entrepreneurship is currently on the rise, largely driven by individuals who either are seeking to become their own boss or have decided to turn a passion into a full-fledged business. But how many of these small business owners have taken steps to protect the future of their businesses or have considered the legacy of their businesses after they die or retire? How many of them have included buy-sell agreements in their estate and business succession plans? When approached by business owners who wish to execute an estate plan, it is imperative that estate planning attorneys help these business owners take the necessary steps to protect the future of their businesses by ensuring that a well-drafted buy-sell agreement is a component of their plans. 

Author: James G. Blase, CPA, JD, LLM, Blase & Associates, LLC, St. Louis, Missouri

Many clients are scrambling to implement significant gifting plans and trusts before changes are potentially made to the current estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax laws by a new Congress and president. Regardless of the outcome of the election, planning will need to take place before 2026, when the current $11.58 million lifetime gift and GST tax exemptions are scheduled to sunset, potentially being reduced to their previous $5 million levels, adjusted for inflation. For many high net worth married couples, the goal is to double the amount of this current gift to up to $23.16 million.