Tennessee Estate Planning Law : Tennessee Estate Planning Lawyer & Attorney : Bryan Howard : Howard & Mobley Law Firm : Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis

One of the sad things about my profession is that my clients eventually die. Some deaths are sudden and unexpected, but most deaths occur after an accident or illness that makes death imminent within a few days or perhaps a few weeks. Though I am sensitive to the feelings of grief and stress that my clients and their families are experiencing, I have the unpleasant task of explaining to my clients and their families the heavy penalties they will pay to the federal and Tennessee governments if they decline to take advantage of “last minute” tax reduction opportunities.

I am currently working with one of my clients who has been given a life expectancy of 2 months or less. Because my client is likely to die in 2010, some of the planning issues are unique. However, some of the planning opportunities are the same as they would be for a death in a different year. Some of the major issues we have considered:

1. Make sure all assets are owned by the Revocable Trust so that probate can be avoided. My client has done an excellent job of funding her revocable trust. However, she recently loaned some money to a friend and the Note is payable to her rather than her trust. We are doing a simple assignment of the Note to make sure that it is owned by her trust.
2. Make annual exclusion gifts of $13,000. My client is making gifts of $13,000 to all of her children and grandchildren, as well as to spouses of her children. At a minimum, this will reduce Tennesse inheritance taxes. If federal estate taxes are reinstated with an effective date prior to the date of my client’s death, or, if she survives until 2011, the gifts will also reduce federal estate taxes.
3. My client is converting her IRA to a Roth IRA.
4. My client’s revocable trust makes charitable bequests totaling $500,000. My client trusts her children to make these gifts. Therefore, she is amending her trust to give the money to her children. The children will pay Tennessee inheritance taxes on this bequest at the rate of 9.5%. However, they will receive charitable income tax deductions which will reduce their federal income taxes by approximately 35%. Furthermore, two of the children live in states with state income taxes. The charitable bequests will also reduce state income taxes. This plan will backfire if federal estate taxes are reinstated retroactively. If this were to happen, federal estate taxes would be higher than the income tax savings. In order to account for this possibility, the revocable trust will provide that if the children disclaim the bequest, then the bequest will go to the charities. This will allow the children to see what happens over the next nine months before they must decide whether to disclaim.
5. Should appreciated assets be sold to avoid losing the benefit of a capital loss carryover? Fortunately, no sales are necessary, because the carryover basis law that applies for decedents dying in 2010 allows the unused capital loss carryover to be added to the $1.3 million basis increase. My client’s executor will have more flexibility to avoid future capital gains if the capital loss carryover is preserved.
6. Finally, my client is researching her records regarding her income tax basis for several assets. She can find this information much more easily than her Executor.

Estate planning when death is imminent can reduce taxes and other problems. Even though the circumstances are unpleasant, the potential benefits are substantial. I have been told by some of my former clients and/or their families that they took comfort in their final days from the knowledge that financial matters were in good shape.
 

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A recent article discussed the use of Inter Vivos Marital Trusts to reduce estate taxes. These trusts can also be used to provide asset protection from future creditors. When the objective is asset protection, the trust is designed differently.

One spouse transfers property to a trust for the benefit of the other spouse. If the donee spouse predeceases the donor spouse, the donor spouse becomes the beneficiary of the trust. The donor spouse’s retention of a successor beneficial interest in the trust represents the key distinction of a marital trust that is used for asset protection rather than reducing estate taxes.

This type of trust has always been exempt from future creditors during the donee spouse’s lifetime because it is a third party created spendthrift trust. When the donor spouse becomes the beneficiary, the trust has traditionally been available to all creditors of the donor spouse since the transfer was made to a trust of which the donor is a beneficiary.

A new Tennessee law will make these trusts exempt from the donor spouse’s future creditors after July 1, 2010. This means that one spouse can transfer substantially all of his or her assets to a trust and protect the assets from future creditors of both spouses.

Inter Vivos Marital Trusts may not be used to avoid the donor’s obligations to creditors that already exist at the time of the transfer to the trust. If the donor spouse does not retain sufficient assets to pay existing creditors, the preexisting creditors can attack the trust as a fraudulent conveyance.

Another potential benefit of an Inter Vivos Marital Trust is to make sure that the donee spouse has sufficient assets to utilize his or her federal estate tax exemption and Tennessee inheritance tax exemption. This will reduce estate taxes upon the surviving spouse’s death. No gift taxes will be payable if the donor spouse files timely federal and Tennessee gift tax returns which make a QTIP election.

For federal income tax purposes, the donor spouse will be taxed on all of the taxable income of the trust, including capital gains, during his or her lifetime. The donee spouse will be taxable on the ordinary income of the trust following the death of the donor spouse and may be taxed on some or all of the capital gains of the trust.
 

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I recently met with a couple for whom I prepared Wills in 2006. They want to make a change to their Will because a member of their family died unexpectedly. When they went to their lockbox, they were unable to find their original Wills. Fortunately, they still have the ability to sign new Wills.

What would have happened if one of my clients had died and the survivor was unable to find the Will? It is likely that we could have probated a copy of the Will. Tennessee law allows a Court to probate a copy of the Will when there is credible testimony that the Will has been lost and that there was no intention to revoke the Will. I have successfully probated copies of Wills on 6 or 7 occasions. Every time that I have probated a copy, no one objected and a close family member was able to give credible testimony about the Will being lost.

You should assume that your heirs will be unsuccessful in probating a copy of your Will. When the original Will cannot be found, there is a strong presumption under Tennessee law that the Will was revoked. There have been numerous cases where the Court refused to probate a copy of a Will. If the Court refuses to probate the copy, the Court will choose an administrator to manage your estate and distribute your assets according to the intestate succession laws of Tennessee.

Due to the problems caused when your original Will cannot be located, it is very important that you keep your original Will in a lockbox or other safe location. You also need to make sure that one or more trustworthy persons knows the location of your original Will.

Revocable trusts do not have the same problem. The Trustee does not have to produce the original Trust Agreement in order to carry out its duties. This is another potential benefit of a revocable trust.
 

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Short-term capital gains are taxed at a significantly higher rate than long-term capital gains. In 2010, the maximum rates are 35% for short-term capital gains and 15% for long-term capital gains. In 2011, the maximum rates will increase to 39.6% and 20%.

Prior to 2010, gains from sales of assets by an estate were automatically treated as long-term capital gains, regardless of when the decedent bought the asset. For decedents dying in 2010, this rule does not apply. It is now necessary to determine when the decedent bought the asset. If the asset is sold within a year after it was acquired, the gain will be short-term.

Tax on pre-mortem gain can be eliminated by allocating the decedent’s basis increase to the property. Every decedent has $1.3 million of basis increase that may be allocated by the Executor. Married decedents potentially have an additional $3 million of basis increase that can be allocated.

The basis increase can not be used to eliminate post-mortem gains. Assume the decedent bought a stock for $200,000 on November 1, 2009. The decedent died on March 31, 2010 when the stock was worth $260,000. If the Executor sells the stock for $300,000 on October 15, 2010, there will be a short-term capital gain of $100,000. The pre-mortem gain of $60,000 can potentially be eliminated if the Executor chooses to allocate a portion of the decedent’s basis increase to this particular asset. The basis increase cannot be used to wipe out the $40,000 post-mortem gain.

The gain could be converted from short-term capital gain to long-term capital gain if the Executor waits to sell until November 1, 2010.

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