Visual Estate Planning - A Visual Guide to Effectively Structuring an Estate Plan (Course Id 876)

Taxes - Taxes for Course Id 876

Throw away the tax Code and regulations and make sense of estate planning with this CPE course for CPAs. Learn how to structure an effective estate plan using a highly visual, real-life situation approach. Diagrams, charts, tables, and calculation sheets are used to present key elements of any successful estate plan - from the simplest to the most complex. 

NASBA QAS - Text - NASBA Registry - 876

As a result of studying each assignment, you should be able to meet the objectives listed below each assignment.

       At the start of Chapter 1, participants should identify the following topics for study:

* Build, preserve, & distribute
* Legal documents
* Estate planning team
* Estate administration
* Transfers within probate
* Transfers outside probate
* Transfers using a trust
* Special planning tools
* Facts

1. Identify the elements of estate planning and the importance of well-drafted legal documents and cite the key team participants and their roles in estate planning process.
2. Recognize the probate process to guide clients through an average probate.
3. Identify those estate tax-planning elements that remain relatively unaffected by recent legislation and recognize how each could benefit the taxpayer’s estate planning.
4. Specify estate planning goals in designing an effective plan and primary plans that allow disposition outside of probate and identify trusts in at least one of two ways.
5. Determine the mechanics of a living “A-B” and “A-B-C” (QTIP) trust and their ability to reduce death taxes and identify estate planning facts to develop an information base for an estate plan.

       At the start of Chapter 2, participants should identify the following topics for study:

* Federal estate tax
* Taxable gross estate
* Deductions from the gross estate
* Valuation
* Estate tax return & payment
* Tax basis for estate assets
* Generation-skipping transfer tax
* Gift taxes
* Annual exclusion
* Shifting income & gain

1. Identify potential death taxes differentiating federal estate tax as it applies to various size estates, determine principal taxes that impact how individuals are taxed at death, and specify the expiration of the death tax credit.
2. Determine the taxable estate under §2501 and what assets are included in a gross estate using basic categories of property and transfers.
3. Specify estate deductions allowed under federal estate tax law and their tax advantages and disadvantages.
4. Determine the value of a decedent’s assets using permitted elections, recognize the use of Form 706 to pay any estate tax due, and identify the tax basis of estate assets and how common transactions affect property basis under §1014.
5. Recognize the advantages of gift planning including estate reduction and the impact of the GST, specify the steps to compute gift tax identifying the gift tax exclusion amount, and determine the value of different types of gifts including split gifting for spouses.
6. Identify the various gift tax exclusions, and the treatment of below-market loans, cite the gift tax marital deduction requirements, specify the tax consequences of giving various assets and factors to consider when gifting, and recognize the use of Form 709 to compute and pay federal gift tax.

       At the start of Chapter 3, participants should identify the following topics for study:

* Disposition of property without a will
* Disposition of property with a will
* Joint tenancies & tenancies in common
* Retirement plans & IRAs & life insurance
* Gifts & payable on death accounts
* Transfers using a trust
* Annual gift tax exclusion & unlimited marital deduction
* Annuities & trusts
* Grantor retained income trusts
* Buy-sell agreements

1. Determine the distinctions between the process of property disposition within probate under a will and intestate succession and the resulting impact on an estate and its beneficiaries.
2. Identify ways to make transfers outside the probate system including the use of a trust.
3. Specify special exclusions, deductions, and transfers to be used as estate-planning tools permitting clients to pass more wealth to heirs and save death taxes while retaining maximum control where possible.
4. Recognize how specialized trusts, valuations, and entities can reduce estate taxes, cite the advantages of the annual gift tax exclusion, and how it can provide a tax deduction or offer income, estate, and gift tax savings.
5. Recognize a grantor retained income trust as an estate-planning device specifying the variations of this trust and their benefits to the grantor and beneficiaries.

Chapter 2 - Estate & Gift Taxes

Federal Estate Tax

Changing Legislative Landscape

Spousal Portability of Unused Exemption Amount - §2010(c)(2)

Persons Subject to Federal Estate Tax

Applicable Exclusion Amount, Basic Computation & Rates

Progressive or Flat Rate

2010 Special Election

State Inheritance Tax

State Death Tax Credit Turns into Deduction – §2011 & §2058

Taxable Estate - §2051

Gross Estate - §2031

Owned Property - §2033

Interests Terminating At Death - Life Estates & Joint Tenancies

Interests Created After Death

Remainder Interests

Dower & Curtsey - §2034

Community Property Comparison

Gifts within Three Years of Death - §2035

Transfers from Revocable Trusts

Retained Life Interest - §2036

Retained Voting Rights

Lifetime Transfers With Reversionary Interests - §2037

Revocable Transfers - §2038

Annuities - §2039

Joint Interests - §2040

Qualified Joint Interests Between Spouses - §2040(b)

Powers of Appointment - §2041

Ascertainable Standard - The Safe Harbor Limitation

5/5 Power

Life Insurance - §2042

Incidents of Ownership

Community Property Issue

Deductions from Gross Estate

Estate Expenses & Claims - §2053

Inclusion of Administrative Expenses on Non-Probate Assets

Casualty & Theft Losses during Administration - §2054

Charitable Transfers - §2055 (§170 & §2522)

Immediate Contributions

Split-Interest Contributions

Charitable Remainder Trusts

Charitable Lead Trusts

Insurance Related Contributions

Unlimited Marital Deduction - §2056

Requirements

Net Value Rule

Non-Citizen Spouse

Qualified Domestic Trust

Gifts to Non-Citizen Spouses

Valuation

IRS Valuation Explanation - §7517

Alternate Valuation - §2032

Special Valuation - §2032A

Estate Tax Return & Payment - §6018

Installment Payment of Federal Estate Taxes - §6166

Computation

Eligibility & Court Supervision

Closely Held Business

Acceleration of Payment

Flower Bonds

Tax Basis for Estate Assets - §1014

Community Property Cost Basis

Basis of Property Under the 2010 Special Election

Property to Which the Modified Carryover Basis Rules Apply

Limited Basis Increase for Certain Property

GST Tax - §2601

Predeceased Parent Exception

Exemption

Allocation

Retroactive Allocation

Gift Taxes - §2501 to §2524

Gift Tax Computation

Calculation Steps

Applicable Exclusion

Application

Entity Rule

Valuation

Real Property

Stocks & Bonds

Annuities, Life Estates, Terms for Years, Remainders, & Reversions

Split Gifts - §2513

Community Property States

Annual Exclusion

Per Donee/Per Year

Gifts in Excess of the Annual Exclusion

No Gift Tax

Gifts within 3 Years of Death

Uniform Gifts to Minors Act

Exception for Minor’s Trusts - §2503(b) & (c)

Medical & Tuition Exclusion - §2503(e)

Qualifying Transfers

Interest-Free or Below-Market Loans

Gift Tax Marital Deduction

Nondeductible Terminable Interests

Gift Tax Charitable Deduction

Partial Interests

Selecting Gift Property

Gift Advantages

Gift Disadvantages

Gift Tax Returns

Includibility of Gifts in the Estate

Shifting Income & Gain

Gifts before Sale

Transfers into Trust Prior to Sale

Installment Obligations

Transfer to Obligor at Death

Income in Respect of a Decedent

Reporting of Foreign Gifts - §6039(f)

Chapter 3 - Plans, Devices & Techniques

Estate Planning Techniques & Devices

Transfers within Probate

Disposition of Property without a Will

Disposition of Property with a Will

Transfers Outside Probate

Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship

Tenancy in Common

Retirement Plan & Individual Retirement Accounts

Life Insurance

Gifts

Payable on Death Accounts (POD)

Transfers Using a Trust

Special Planning Tools

Spending

Annual Gift Tax Exclusion

Applicable Exclusion Amount

Spousal Portability of Unused Exemption Amount

2010 Special Election

Unlimited Marital Deduction

Family Business Deduction - Expired

Installment Payment of Estate Taxes

Private Annuities

Installment Sale to Family Member

Self-Canceling Installment Notes

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust

Special Valuation of Farms and Businesses - §2032A

Crummey Trusts

Charitable Remainder Trusts

Minor Trusts

Family Limited Partnerships

Grantor Retained Income Trusts

Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs)

Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs)

Grantor Retained Unitrusts (GRUTs)

Buy-Sell Agreements

Appendix A - Sample Visual Estate Planning Slides

Glossary