BSMG Blog: Protecting the Future of Families and Businesses

The use of an indemnity Long Term Care (LTC) rider is crucial to keep the life insurance death benefit estate tax free. That’s because any rider benefits will be paid only to the Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) as policy owner, and NOT used to pay extended care costs directly to the extended care provider. Since LTC benefit claims are paid only to the ILIT, this indemnity style LTC rider does NOT create an incident of ownership in the UL policy.

As people age into their 80s, with longer life expectancies, their mental capacity is often diminished. This declining capacity presents an interesting issue which can impact whether continued gifting of premiums to Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) can take place. 

Have you encountered a client, maybe a successful business owner or professional, with more than $1,000,000 in their IRA account? Many of these IRA owners have multiple sources of income as they approach their retirement years. 

 A Tax Efficient Capital Transfer Strategy

Using a so-called “Zero-Gift” Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) coupled with an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) can provide estate, gift, and income tax free transfer of estate assets to heirs in an economically efficient manner.

This article, by BSMG's very own Russell E. Towers, takes a look at the long list of GRAT advantages available under current law. As well as a case study on a zero-gift GRAT in tandem with an ILIT.  

The equities market is recovering and it is becoming more common for individuals to have over $1 million in their individual retirement accounts (IRAs). As these individuals are approaching their retirement years they are collecting income from multiple sources such as the owner's job, Social Security retirement benefits, K-1 "pass-through" income from ownership of S-corp or LLC entities, and rental income from real estate.

A Beneficial Planning Tandem

The benefits of a charitable remainder trust (CRT) working in tandem with an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) are significant for charitable-minded estate owners looking to benefit a public charity or their own private charitable foundation. How does a CRT work, and what are the valuable benefits it can provide? The CRT can be formed either as a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT) which can provide a fixed lifetime income to the donor or as a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) which can provide a fixed percentage end of year value lifetime income to the donor.