Preservation | Family Wealth Protection & Planning

Traditionally, due to lower estate tax exemption amounts, many married couples would use bypass trusts or credit shelter trusts as part of a typical estate plan. For example, on the death of the first spouse, assets in that spouse’s revocable trust would be allocated to a bypass trust (frequently referred to in the trust document as a family trust) up to the amount of the deceased spouse’s remaining estate tax exemption, with the balance allocated to a marital trust for the surviving spouse. The bypass trust would not only pass estate tax free at the first spouse’s death, but would also be outside of (i.e., bypass) the surviving spouse’s taxable estate at death. In addition, the bypass trust assets might continue from generation to generation without being subject to any additional “transfer taxes” like the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, if GST exemption was allocated to the trust. This type of planning continues to provide a variety of benefits.

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, died Aug. 16, 2018. Within days, her four sons filed court documents alleging that she died without a will or trust. If the court filing is confirmed and no will or trust is found, her estate will be considered “intestate.” In other words, Franklin gave no indication as to how her assets should be distributed when she died and the matter will need to be resolved under state law.

The Internal Revenue Service has released the Applicable Federal Rates (AFRs) for September 2018. 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 September 2018: