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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Estate Planning

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, July 11, 2023

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

  • BARBRI is a NASBA CPE sponsor and this 110-minute webinar is accredited for 2.0 CPE credits.

  • BARBRI is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).


  • Live Online


    On Demand

$297.00

This course is $0 with these passes:

CLE
CPE
ALL

This CLE/CPE course will provide estate planners with a thorough and practical guide to overcoming the challenges of utilizing joint and individual trusts in separate property/community property states. The panel will outline when to use joint marital trusts instead of individual trusts and vice versa. The panel will offer drafting language to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of using JMTs and individual trusts in separate and community property states.

Faculty

John M. Hemenway
Partner
Bivins and Hemenway, PA

Mr. Hemenway is a founding partner of Bivins & Hemenway, P.A.  His educational background included substantial coursework in computer programming and systems design at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Mr. Hemenway serves as a trusted legal advisor to business owners, real estate investors, and families seeking to preserve and pass down their wealth and values. His practice focuses on estate planning and probate, small and closely held businesses, and real estate.

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Dan McKenzie
Attorney and Owner
McKenzie Law Firm, LLC

Mr. McKenzie has helped consumers who had been defrauded by unfair business practices or who had been physically injured by poorly designed and inadequately tested products. Since opening his own office, his goal has been to help clients identify and mitigate their risks to the full extent possible, with the goal of avoiding expensive and time-consuming litigation.

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Description

For some families, choosing between a joint or individual trust is a critical component that significantly impacts gift and income taxes. If both spouses want the surviving spouse to have full control over the assets in the trust and have the same beneficiaries of the residual estate, then a joint trust may be ideal. Individual trusts may be the best option for couples with certain assets, separate finances, prenuptial agreements, or second marriages. Estate planners must carefully consider applicable state laws and potential tax implications when deciding on the best structure.

Estate planning counsel should anticipate and avoid tax pitfalls when structuring joint trusts in separate property states. Where the spouses contribute unequal amounts, funding the trust may trigger gift tax if the trust instrument does not correctly assign the power to revoke or withdraw assets.

There are also income tax risks in structuring a joint trust in a separate property state. Estate planning counsel must identify hidden tax risks and manage them by carefully drafting the trust document.

Listen as our experienced panel explains how to structure joint and individual trusts in a separate property and community property state.

Outline

  1. Community property states
    1. Tax and non-tax considerations
    2. Gift and estate tax issues to avoid in funding and administering
    3. Income tax issues and potential advantages
    4. Drafting recommendations and resources
  2. Separate property states
    1. Tax and non-tax considerations
    2. Gift and estate tax issues to avoid in funding and administering
    3. Income tax issues and potential advantages
    4. Drafting recommendations and resources
  3. Transitioning from community to separate property states and vice versa
    1. Navigating state law issues
    2. Tax and non-tax considerations
    3. Gift and estate tax issues
    4. Income tax issues and potential advantages
    5. Drafting recommendations

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • What are the gift, income, and estate tax risks of utilizing joint vs. individual trusts in separate and community property states?
  • What are the administrative and accounting costs associated with the use of joint trusts in separate property states?
  • Coordinating joint revocable trusts with credit shelter trusts
  • Drafting general powers of appointment in joint revocable trusts in separate property states

NASBA Details

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to:

  • Recognize the gift, income, and estate tax risks of utilizing joint vs. individual trusts in separate and community property states
  • Identify key tax issues when coordinating joint revocable trusts with credit shelter trusts
  • Understand gift and estate tax issues to avoid in funding and administering trusts

  • Field of Study: Taxes
  • Level of Knowledge: Intermediate
  • Advance Preparation: None
  • Teaching Method: Seminar/Lecture
  • Delivery Method: Group-Internet (via computer)
  • Attendance Monitoring Method: Attendance is monitored electronically via a participant's PIN and through a series of attendance verification prompts displayed throughout the program
  • Prerequisite: Three years+ business or public firm experience preparing complex tax forms and schedules, supervising other preparers or accountants. Specific knowledge and understanding of estate and gift taxation and reporting, pass-through taxation, including taxation of partnerships, S corporations and sole proprietorships, qualified business income, net operating losses and loss limitations.

Strafford Publications, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of Accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE Credits. Complaints regarding registered sponsons may be submitted to NASBA through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.

IRS Approved Provider

Strafford is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).