As a high-net-worth individual, you have worked hard to accumulate significant wealth. It is important to ensure that your hard-earned assets are protected and distributed according to your wishes after your passing. Estate planning involves a comprehensive plan to manage your assets, property, and investments upon death or incapacitation.
While many people may assume that estate planning is only for the elderly or those with significant health concerns, it is important to note that anyone can benefit from having an estate plan. It is never too early to start planning for the future, and the earlier you start, the more time you have to adjust and revise your plan as your circumstances change.
Estate planning is particularly crucial for high-net-worth families and individuals because they often have more complex financial situations that require more sophisticated planning strategies. For example, high-net-worth individuals may have multiple properties, businesses, investments, and other assets that require special attention in estate planning. By working with an experienced San Diego estate planning attorney, you can ensure that your plan is sound and meets the goals that you have.
Why It’s Crucial to Have a Plan in Place
Estate planning is crucial for everyone, regardless of their net worth. However, for higher-net-worth individuals and families, it is particularly important to have basic estate planning documents in place. Here are some reasons why:
- Having a will, power of attorney, and advance directives is essential to ensure that your assets and property are distributed according to your wishes.
- Without these documents, your loved ones may have to make difficult decisions on your behalf, or the state may decide how to distribute your assets.
- In addition to basic documents, higher-net-worth individuals and families should consider whether they need to take additional steps to avoid estate taxes or ensure long-term care.
- Estate taxes can be significant for those with substantial assets, but proper planning can help minimize or avoid these taxes.
- Long-term care planning can ensure that you receive the care you need should you become incapacitated or require assistance in your daily life.
- Starting the estate planning process sooner rather than later is important, as it provides more options and flexibility for your estate plan.
- Working with an experienced estate planning attorney and financial advisor can help ensure your estate plan is tailored to your unique circumstances and objectives.
Strategies to Minimize Estate Taxes
Various strategies are available to avoid estate taxes, such as an “irrevocable” transfer of your assets to a trust managed by a third party. However, this transfer does not mean you cannot enjoy the income generated by your assets. Below are some examples of methods that can help lower estate taxes and achieve other objectives:
- Charitable Remainder Trusts: These trusts are irrevocable and allow you or your beneficiaries to receive annual income from assets you donate to the trust. The remaining assets will be given to one or more charities that you specify. Charitable Remainder Trusts can help you minimize your taxable estate, and meet your philanthropic goals.
- Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts: A Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT) is a way to transfer your wealth to the next generation. In a SLAT, one spouse makes a gift into the trust to benefit the other spouse, thus removing the gifted asset from the couple’s combined estates. This allows you to benefit from the current federal lifetime gift and estate tax exclusion (currently $12.92 million per person or $25.84 million for married couples), which is due to expire in 2026. The spouses can still access the assets to some extent. Furthermore, post-gift appreciation in value is excluded from federal taxation for both spouses’ estates. However, the current historically high federal exemption amounts will sunset on December 31, 2025 and revert back to a likely much lower level.
- Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts: A Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) is a trust that enables you to transfer appreciating assets to your heirs while minimizing gift or estate taxes. High-net-worth individuals and couples may use GRATs to freeze their estate’s value and transfer any increase in asset value to their loved ones, all while incurring minimal tax consequences. GRATs also serves as a means for retirement planning.
To establish a GRAT, the donor creates a trust for a specified period and receives an income stream or annuity from the GRAT. When the GRAT expires, the remaining assets will pass on to your chosen beneficiaries. If specific conditions are met, estate and gift taxes can be minimized.
Get Involved in Gift Planning
Giving wealth up to your lifetime exclusion can be a savvy estate planning tactic for high-net-worth families. This approach enables you to gift assets up to your lifetime exclusion amount before you pass away and not pay taxes unless you go beyond this threshold.
Per the 2022 gift tax exclusions, a married couple could give away up to $25.84 million without tax implications. Moreover, once they surpass the lifetime limit, they can still gift up to the yearly maximum of $17,000 (as of 2023) each year without being subject to gift taxes.
It’s prudent to gift prudently and understand your state’s regulations. Various states have their own gift and estate tax laws, which may not align with federal tax rules.
Consider Life Insurance Investment Options
Investing in a reliable life insurance policy is another viable strategy to contemplate. Life insurance can essentially cover expected estate taxes and distribute assets or specific amounts to your beneficiaries.
If most of your estate comprises non-liquid assets like real estate or a business, your estate might owe more in taxes than it has in liquid funds. You can use the proceeds from a life insurance policy to cover these taxes, eliminating the need for your heirs to sell off family businesses or investment properties.
You can also employ your life insurance policy to achieve inheritance equality. For instance, if one child is more qualified to run the family business, you could assign the business to them and provide another child with a life insurance policy worth the company’s value.
Careful planning is needed here though to ensure the life insurance policy is kept outside of your estate, otherwise the policy value will add to taxes owed.
Significance of Portability
Remember the significance of portability, particularly before the present federal estate and gift tax exclusions terminate in 2026. If your spouse passes away, you may qualify to file an estate tax return and transfer their unused estate tax exclusion to yourself, thus doubling the exemption amount you have to leave behind free of tax. This implies that even if you don’t pass away until after 2026, you could add millions of dollars in tax exclusions to your heirs’ benefit.
You must follow specific protocols to elect “portability” of your spouse’s unused gift and estate tax exemption, and some estates may not qualify. Nonetheless, if this is a viable option in your family’s situation, it could result in substantial tax savings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Consult an Expert
It’s essential to consult an experienced estate planner when assessing all the available strategies. Furthermore, each state has its own set of regulations and laws governing trusts, and what is permissible, in addition to the varying estate or gift tax regulations.
Jenkins & Jenkins is a reliable option for expert guidance in this field. Our team of experienced professionals can help you navigate the complexities of estate planning, ensuring that you make prudent decisions and have a solid plan to protect your assets and provide for your loved ones.
