August 13, 2013

As a recent article explains, a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (“GRAT”) is a great estate-planning tool for high-net-worth individuals.  This type of irrevocable trust permits you to make a lifetime gift of assets to an irrevocable trust in exchange for a fixed payment stream for a specified term of years.

Often, individuals making large transfers to their beneficiaries choose to utilize GRATs because of associated tax benefits.

A key aspect of GRAT transfers is that they minimize or even eliminate estate and gift tax liability on the transferred assets. Moreover, the creator of a GRAT may receive fixed annual payments for the life of the trust. Through receiving this annuity, the creator is paid back his or her principal, as well as interest. After the trust term has concluded, the remainder of the trust passes to the trust beneficiaries.

When setting up a GRAT, it is important to carefully select a trust term. If the trust term ends while the creator is still alive, the remaining assets will be included as part of his or her gross estate for purposes of determining estate tax liability. Those who anticipate outliving the trust term of their GRAT should consider employing a life insurance strategy to offset any additional tax liabilities.

Those who wish to set up a GRAT should act quickly because the Obama administration may soon eliminate the tax benefits that a GRAT strategy would reap as proposed in the President’s latest Green book proposals.