Preservation | Family Wealth Protection & Planning

The Internal Revenue Service has released the Applicable Federal Rates (AFRs) for June 2017. AFRs are published monthly and represent the minimum interest rates that should be charged for family loans to avoid tax complications.

Here are the rates for June 2017:

As one gets older and less able – or even willing – to deal with financial responsibilities, it is common to turn to others to help take care of your finances. The most comprehensive tool to use in such a case would be a financial durable power of attorney, in which you, as principal, name someone as your agent to handle financial and legal affairs on your behalf. Another commonly used method is naming an adult child as a co-owner or a co-signer on a bank account. A co-owner has full access to the account and will legally own the proceeds of the account after the other account owner’s death. A co-signer simply has authority to write checks and draw on the account.

On April 24, 2017, Missouri launched MO ABLE, the state’s Achieving a Better Life Experience disability savings program. Missourians with disabilities may now open an ABLE account to save and invest, tax-free, without jeopardizing federal needs-based benefits such as SSI and Medicaid. For more information about the ABLE Act, which Congress passed in December 2014, and about ABLE accounts in general, please see our prior e-alert.