Next year, your senior clients may be faced with potential estate tax changes. Here are four strategies to help them cope.
It's an uncertain period for senior clients' estate plans because some key tax provisions are scheduled to change at yearend. For example, in 2012 the law allows estate-, gift- and generation- skipping transfer (GST) exemptions of $5.12 million. The maximum rate on taxable estates is 35 percent and a surviving spouse can use his or her predeceased spouse's unused estate- or gift-tax exemption (i.e., the exemption is "portable").
But those amounts could change significantly on Jan. 1, 2013. Here are several possible scenarios:
- Congress does nothing and the current extensions end. If that happens, the estate tax exemption drops back to $1 million, the GST exemption falls to $1.39 million, exemption portability between spouses ends and the top tax rate reverts to 55 percent.
- The current law is extended. That means this year's exemptions and rates will continue to apply next year.
- The administration's proposal passes. This would return exemptions and rates to their 2009 levels, among other provisions. That would result in $3.5 million estate and GST exemptions, a $1 million gift-tax exemption and a top tax rate of 45 percent. Portability would be retained, but valuation discounts and severable taxpayer-friendly planning strategies such as grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) and dynasty trusts would face new restrictions that could significantly curtail their value.
- The estate tax is repealed completely. That's hard to imagine given the budget deficit and political gridlock.
- Congress and the administration reach a compromise. In that case, it's impossible to predict the outcome with any certainty.
Senior Market Advisor asked several estate-planning advisors for strategies that can help your clients preserve their estates in this uncertain tax environment.
Strategy 1
Update estate planning documents to account for the portability provisions.
The 2010 tax act provides for portability of the estate- and gift-tax exemptions between two spouses. "This provision allows a surviving spouse to take advantage of the unused portion of the deceased spouse's exemption for the very first time in tax law history." As a result, a married couple can effectively pass on to their heirs $10.24 million free of federal estate tax in 2012. Careful drafting of documents should allow this. The provision is limited to those who die in 2011 and 2012 and it will expire after Dec. 31, 2012. Portability is not automatic—it's elective—so make sure that this has been addressed for in your clients' planning and your legal documents. (Note: the portability provisions do not apply to the generation skipping tax.)
Jonathan Gassman, CPA, CFP®, CAP,
Director of Tax & Wealth Management, Gassman & Golodny, New York, N.Y.
Strategy 2
Consider a gifting strategy in 2012.
Once the planning window closes on Jan. 1, 2013, certain planning opportunities and strategies—which could potentially result in millions of dollars in tax savings—are lost forever. For example, the 2012 federal gift-tax exclusion amount is $5.12 million per individual, or $10.24 million per married couple, with a maximum rate of 35 percent for gifts above these thresholds. In 2013, the federal gift-tax exclusion reverts back to $1 million per individual, with a maximum rate of 55 percent for gifts above this threshold. "In an estate plan where gifting is a prudent strategy, there are significant advantages, and tax savings, to do so in 2012." There is the potential to save millions of dollars of estate tax. Consider planning strategies that leverage this gift-tax window of opportunity, including the use of irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITS) and grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATS).
