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As with many writers, I dream of having more than a few bestselling novels under my belt while I'm still senile enough to recognize myself in the mirror. Writers may sit at their laptops, notebooks and in coffeeshops trying to develop a fantastic and wholly original idea for a novel or series of novels. We come up with a cast of characters, map out chapters and might even develop a series bible if we're really feeling ambitious. We start foaming at the mouth at the idea of starting this epic and sprawling adventure.
And then it happens…
…you run…
…of steam.
Three or four chapters in you realize that that fully realized idea was only a premature birth and needs more time in a creative incubator before it's developed enough to run rampant through the literary world. This has happened to me on more than one occasion. I've realized that forcing a novel hardly ever works. I'm starting to realize that some ideas are meant to be novels, and others are short stories and should only exist as such. This isn't to say that a short story can't eventually become a novel, but simply that you should first write it as it's intended to be before going back to see if there's more underneath that pile of 5,000 words. Think of it as a buffet: rather than getting excited and heaping as much as you can on your plate, sample a few of your top favorites and see if your stomach can handle more.
Short stories are a magnificent exercise, regardless of if you've written several novels or have just started dabbling in writing. They allow writers to release the short bursts of creativity that may be keeping them from sleeping or fully focusing on other projects. Short stories force you to cut down on excess word fat, tell a tight, contained story and shape up your writing style. I really enjoy variety and switching from genre to genre every now and then. In the past I would bind myself to working on my novel and only my novel.
I now realize how foolish that was.
Rather than forcing my creativity to go in a certain direction, I should instead allow my creativity to force me in a certain direction. It's not as if my novel will evaporate or die if I don't give it constant attention, but I also shouldn't spend more time than necessary away from it. Switching writing projects and working on projects of different lengths is like exercising every muscle in your body as opposed to only working your upper body. Ever seen a bodybuilder who obviously spent more time working out their arms and chest than they did their legs? Do yourself and your writing body a favor and give yourself a complete writer's workout, exercising your short story quads, your poetic pecs and your flash fiction calves. Writing isn't just a world, but an entire galaxy! Start exploring, even if the journey may be fraught with danger and failure.
Here's a link to an extremely helpful blog entry about writing short fiction. There you'll also finds some ways to make some money from your short stories. Now, I've got your attention!
You should also check out DuoTrope to find thousands of both paid and unpaid markets for your work. I use it to find places to send my other material when I've hit a wall or need to step out of the world of my novel for a while.
And that's the long and short of it!
Take care out there.


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|A mourner cries over the bodies of Afghan civilians
Over a decade after the US and UK led Invasion of Afghanistan, the nightmare of the Afghan people continues and after over a decade of Anti-War campaigning many activists are also exhausted. Nearly 5 years ago I organised a petition campaign in Bromsgrove for Military Families Against the War.
During May 2007, in Bromsgrove High Street, despite the attempt by the District Council to deny us permission, we established petition tables two weekends running. Our Petition Campaign was also an opportunity for Marianna Fontanelli to get useful 'vox pop' interview footage for a Documentary titled SHADOWS on the issue of UK Troops who suffer PTSD as a result of the Trauma of participating in the War. We got tremendous support from most local people who enthusiastically expressed their opposition to the war. A mother of a son serving in Afghanistan for the Mercian Regiment helped staff the stall and together we collected over 500 signatures in two Saturday sessions lasting about 5 hours in total, even the Local Paper gave the petition campaign favourable coverage. I had managed to get a ticket as a new member of Bromsgrove Labour Party to attend a Regional Deputy Leadership Hustings event. This event was also doubling up as the unofficial 'Coronation' of Gordon Brown as the new Leader of the Party. I intended to present the petition to the heir apparent of Tony Blair on behalf of the people of Bromsgrove.
When I arrived in Warwick University for the Deputy Leadership Husting on 20th May 2007 the place was crawling with the Media and Security was very tight. I was lucky enough to make friends with people who could protect me. I sat on the right side of the auditorium about 10 rows from the Platform, on my left was Daniel De'Ath [yes that is his name] a tall dual heritage youth from Rugby Labour Party and on my right, a slightly built bespectacled Methodist lay preacher from Bromsgrove Labour Party.
Polly Toynbee, was chairing the Hustings and Gordon Brown was to be making his first keynote speech as the New Labour Leader. Very early on a protester from the Stop the War Coalition attempted to speak and raise a anti-war poster at the rear of the hall.... within seconds about 10 burly private security contractors silenced the protest and bundled the poor woman out, 'her feet did not touch the ground'. About 30 minutes after this incident - the Chair was asking for 'Questions from the floor to Gordon', most of these 'questions' were clearly scripted the 'questioners' planted in the audience... then suddenly there was a brief silence in the room ... someone wasn't sticking to the 'script' or had just forgot their 'que'. I seized my chance. I put my hand up and said 'Polly... POLLY!... I have a question'. Polly Toynbee, seemed momentarily confused and nodded towards me and said 'Yes'. I stood up and said "Out there, and everybody knows this, the elephant in the room is that this war has gone on too long. Everybody has had enough of the war. We have to take decisive action. When are you going to bring those troops back home?'' Then I produced my petition sheets and held them in the Air "I have over 500 signatures here to present to Gordon from the people of Bromsgrove, many of whom have sons serving in Iraq and Afghanistan...." Already the Security were moving in but they couldn't get close enough without trampling over more 'loyal' party members. I sat down and Gordon Brown stood up... his reply to me made the evening TV Bulletins but my question to him remained unreported. Strangely, enough the only media outlet to report my comments was The Hindu an Indian Newspaper. The earlier protest by the young woman who was dragged out by security was briefly shown on the TV news bulletins, but typically framed in a way to present Stop the War supporters as some sort of 'Anarchist Thugs'.
Back home in Bromsgrove - 'The Great Helmsman' of Bromsgrove Labour Party Councillor Peter McDonald was a tad upset with me. I was Expelled from the Labour Party AGAIN! [I joined Bromsgrove and Redditch CLP at 15 years old in August 1977. I was expelled in 1982 from Northfield CLP and expelled again in 1985 from Sparkbrook CLP] While I was waiting patiently to face a Labour Party National Executive Committe Appeal Hearing in October 2007 other people were very busy: General Sir Richard Dannatt Chief of the General Staff of the British Army was involved in the Launch of 'Help For Heroe's' with the willing assistance of Rupert Murdoch via the 'Sun' Newspaper. The new 'Charity' began it's work with massive resources, other long established military charities like Combat Stress established in 1919 who worked without the support of the Tory Party and Rupert Murdoch were effectively sidelined or turned into client organisations.
Two years after I questioned Gordon Brown at Warwick University, a well loved, liked and respected 18year old lad from Bromsgrove, Robbie Laws, was killed in Afghanistan. Robbie's Funeral was huge and the disgraced local MP, Julie Kirkbride, attended as part of her attempt to rehabilitate herself in the aftermath of the MP's Expenses Scandal. By this time the public activity of charities like 'Help for Heroes' and 'Support Our Soldiers' was becoming really prominent feature of life in Bromsgrove. The local free papers the local Council and all the local Schools seemed to be holding fundraising events. It seemed that participation in this sort of activity 'to support the troops' was far more appealing than participating in campaigning activity to 'Stop the War'. The clever thing was that this huge surge of 'charitable' campaigning 'had nothing whatever to do with politics', the truth, however, was that those who 'set up' 'Help For Heroe's' were very political. By November 2009 General Sir Richard Dannatt formally 'retired' from the British Army to take up the role of 'Defence Advisor' to the Leader of the Opposition David Cameron. It was becoming clear that powerful forces were determined to undermine widespread Anti-War sentiment via manipulation of 'public opinion'. This was a classic 'Low Intensity Operation', a counter insurgency technique outlined by one of Sir Richard Dannatts mentor's in the Army Frank Kitson
What worries and concerns me is that as the War in Afghanistan drags on the most reactionary elements in British Society have been able to pose as the 'champions' of 'our troops'. Even though it is they who continue to pursue the unjustifiable and unwinnable war that sends those troops back home in coffins with increasing regularity.
Welfare Not Warfare! - Don't Attack IRAN!
No! I am not on about the Austin Allegro! One of the things that is missing today is the Soviet Union. The objective of the Regan/Thatcher regimes was to break the back of the Soviet Union, forcing it to compete in an Arms Race it couldn't win. The USA deployed 'first strike' Cruise Missiles in Britain and Thatcher gladly coughed up the money for Trident Nuclear Subs - while Regan spent $Billions on Pretend Star Wars Projects to scare the bureaucrats in the Kremlin. Not content with this escalation which began to cripple the Soviet Economy, they began a proxy war against the Soviet Union. In Afghanistan Regan/Thatcher in Alliance with the House of Saud, funded and armed a reactionary rural rebellion against an essentially socially progressive and secular Kabul Government. In the Tora Bora Caves Frankenstein's Monster, was brought back to life by the CIA, to lead this proxy war against the Soviet Union - Osama bin Laden. To capture Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan was supposedly the original purpose of the US and UK led Invasion in 2001. Osama is like the Soviet Union GONE! The USA is already conducting a covert War in Pakistan using unmanned 'Drones' that have killed more people than died in the Twin Tower on 9/11. The same covert war is well underway in Somalia and Yemen, but despite the 'stealth' technology of the US Military, Iranian Defence Forces Shot down and captured a Drone last December.
To legitimise the carnage they carry out in our name the Warmongers Lie. They carried out over 30,000 bombing raids on Libya killing 10,000s of Civilians and destroying the infrastructure of the country all in the name of 'protecting civilians'. They gloated as 'so called' Rebels finished their dirty work for them by slaughtering the already wounded Gaddafi. Now they are preparing the way to attack Iran and Syria. Still they carry on with their Wars and their lies and they will continue.
-WHO ARE THEY? The Answer is simple - the worldwide Occupy Movement nailed that question They are the 1% - We are the 99%
The question we need to come up with a collective answer to is HOW CAN WE STOP THEM?

subset: commoncrawl


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Having recently been knighted, Britain's greatest living choreographer Matthew Bourne talks to Sarah Freeman about his career on stage.
Matthew Bourne has been called many things over the years.
When he turned Swan Lake on its head by replacing the traditional female roles with men, he was was described as the enfant terrible of the dance world. Now with a trophy cabinet full of awards, he's more likely to be referred to as Britain's greatest living choreographer. As of January 1, he can also add "Sir" to his list of titles.
He was named in the Queen's New Year Honours in recognition of almost three decades worth of work and it capped what had been a difficult 12 months for Bourne and his New Adventures dance company.
In August, principal dancer Jonathan Ollivier was killed in a motorcycle crash while on his way to the final performance of Bourne's Car Man at Sadler's Wells theatre. The 38 year-old had danced for Bourne for years and his sudden death left an enormous gap in the famously tight-knit company.
"What can I say except that last summer was incredibly sad. He was a huge loss to us all, but quite quickly we also knew that once the grief had subsided a little that we wanted a chance to celebrate his life."
The result is a show, simply entitled Mr Wonderful, will be staged for one-night only at Sadler's Wells next week with the proceeds going to Ollivier's two young sons. It will also mark the start of another busy 12 months for Bourne, whose revival of Sleeping Beauty comes to Bradford next month. Like most of his work, which as well as that landmark Swan Lake, also features a Cinderella set in London during the Blitz and a dance version of Edward Scissorhands, it pushes the boundaries of the traditional fairytale.
"Sleeping Beauty is an interesting production and one I was really keen to revive," says Bourne, who has just celebrated his 55th birthday. "We have a very loyal audience and they come expecting something a little different. However, if speak to them at the interval of Sleeping Beauty many of them are surprised by how traditional the opening is. However, we wouldn't want to disappoint, so come the second half we fast forward 100 years and it all gets a little darker."
Before Bourne set up his own company with a group of friends in the late 1980s, dance – and in particular ballet – attracted a rather niche audience. Outside of the big companies, many provincial theatres avoided programming all but the most traditional fare, fearing that artistic integrity was unlikely to equate to decent box office takings.
Bourne changed all that.
"People often ask did I consciously set out to make dance more accessible. I'm not sure it was quite that definite, but I have always thought about the audience and I have borrowed a little from film and the really big stage shows. Every show is developed from their point of view and if I have managed to introduce a new audience to dance, then it's been a complete privilege."
While Bourne may now be one of the dance world's leading lights, he admits that the establishment weren't always so keen. When Swan Lake premiered in 1995, so outraged were some at what they saw as the unnecessary tampering with the original ballet that they walked out of the early performances.
"I never set out to shock, but yes, I did know that it would get a reaction. The walkouts were few and far between, in fact most people were very lovely, but anything new can polarise opinion, but I knew that the work was good and that it would ultimately stand for itself."
Bourne's Swan Lake is now the longest running ballet in the West End, it successfully transferred to Broadway, has been performed across Europe and Asia and its popularity was sealed when it was used as the final scene in Billy Elliot.
"The audience for dance has changed incredibly over the last couple of decades. When I was starting out you knew there were a lot of people who had been dragged to the theatre against their will. Not anymore. Partly that's down to shows like Strictly, which has brought dance into people's living rooms, but I'd like to think that we have also played at least a small part in that change."
Bourne's determination to break out of the strict formalities of ballet is in large part due to his own background and training. While most top dancers and choreographers are schooled from an early age, it wasn't until he was 22 that Bourne decided to audition for dance school.
"I wasn't a complete novice, but I was self-taught. Thankfully I was also blessed with that particularly brand of fearlessness which comes with being young. It never once crossed my mind that I shouldn't be auditioning along with everyone else or that my lack of formal training would be a problem.
"I just turned up and thought, 'Right, let's give this a go'. To be honest I think they were probably less impressed by my moves than my passion. I'd seen every show going and even then I had an insatiable curiosity about how work is put together. There was also the fact that most dance schools were desperately short of boys, so anyone who showed an interest was immediately recruited."
Bourne is being typically modest, but insists that despite being a relative outsider he found the warmest of welcomes at The Laban Centre where he studied dance theatre and choreography.
"A lot of people in this business come from a long line of entertainers and while my parents weren't from that kind of background, they were big fans of the theatre and musicals in particular. We went to the theatre whenever we could even if it meant sitting in the gods. Those experiences have really influenced my work, as I want it to look good from wherever you sit. The cheap seats shouldn't be an any worse experience than being in the front of the stalls."
Growing up, Bourne says he could be often found putting on a show and for a while he did consider acting.
"The problem was I hit puberty and suddenly I didn't like the sound of my voice. Honestly, I couldn't bear it, I was incredibly shy and I just hated talking which is funny really because you can't shut me up now. However, my love of singing and dancing never waned. I'd charge old ladies from down the street to come and watch my shows.
"I'd give them a cup of tea but they'd have to pay. I've always had one eye on the business."
Bourne has been awarded many plaudits over the years. As well as the clutch of Olivier and Tony Awards, he has also been the subject of a South Bank Show, but he says he knew he'd made it when he was invited onto Desert Island Discs back in 2004. For the record, he saved Ella Fitzgerald's Night and Day from the waves, chose Kenneth Williams' diaries as his book and as for his one luxury, that was spotted dick with Lyon's syrup.
"The ultimate comfort food and if I was going to be marooned on a desert island I reckon I would need a pretty big helping."
Aside from the revival of Sleeping Beauty, Bourne has big plans for this year, but for the moment he can't reveal the details.
"Honestly, I'm terrible at keeping secrets, but I have been told I must, so I am trying to be good. What I can say is there will be a world premiere this year and we are already quite well on with the piece and it's looking good. Making new work is the reason I got into this business and every day I go into the studio feels like a real privilege."
Sleeping Beauty, Alhambra, Bradford, February 23 to 27. 01274 432000, bradford-theatres.co.uk.


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Heckerling Musings 2014 and Current Developments
- Grant Simmons
- 3 years ago
- Views:
1 Heckerling Musings 2014 and Current Developments April 2014 Steve R. Akers Senior Fiduciary Counsel Southwest Region, Bessemer Trust 300 Crescent Court, Suite 800 Dallas, TX
2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Legislative Developments Treasury-IRS Priority Guidance Plan; BDITs General Approaches to Estate Planning Following ATRA; The New Normal Planning for Couples Having Under $10 Million Portability Estate and Income Tax Intersection Basis Planning for Larger Estates Basis Adjustment Flexibility Planning Joint Spousal Trusts (To Facilitate Funding Credit Shelter Trusts and for Basis Adjustment); Section 2038 Marital Trust Trust and Estate Planning Considerations for 3.8% Tax on Net Investment Income and Income Taxation of Trusts Drafting for Maximum Flexiblity (and Dead Hand Control ); But Can It Go Too Far? Gift Planning Issues for 2014 and Beyond Defined Value Clause Updates Sale to Grantor Trust Transaction (Including Note with Defined Value Feature) Under Attack, Estate of Donald Woelbing v. Commissioner and Estate of Marion Woelbing v. Commissioner Grantor Trust Miscellaneous Issues Self-Canceling Installment Notes (SCINs); CCA and Estate of William Davidson Same-Sex Marriage Issues Life Insurance Developments Right to Dividends, Shark-Fin CLATs, Intergenerational Split Dollar Insurance Life Insurance Management, Particularly for Life Insurance Trusts Business Life Insurance Charitable Planning Reminders, Strategies and Creative Ideas Planning for Surviving Spouse Who is Beneficiary of QTIP Trust; Sale of Assets for Deferred Private Annuity, Estate of Kite v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo and Rule 155 Order IRS Appeals Generation Skipping Transfer Tax: Post-ATRA Planning and Practical Pointers Fixing Trusts Modifying Irrevocable Trusts Residence and Domicile Issues State Income Tax Issues Power to Adjust or Unitrust Election i
3 27. Funding Unfunded Testamentary Bypass Trusts Practical Tips in Dealing With Aging Clients (and Diminished Capacity Issues) Gifts of Fractional Interests in Art Mandatory Income Requirement For Marital Trust Malpractice Issues From Reviewing Documents Prepared by Others Recent Cases Addressing Asset Protection Planning and Domestic Asset Protection Trusts IRS Valuation Art Panel Interest on Graegin Loan Not Deductible; Majority Interest in LLC Valued With Low Marketability Discount, Estate of Koons v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo Net Gift Offset by Donee s Assumption of Potential 2035(b) Estate Tax Liablility if Donor Dies Within Three Years, Steinberg v. Commissioner Reciprocal Powers, PLRs , , , Valuation of Investment Holding Company; Valuation Method, Built-In Gains Tax Adjustment, Lack of Control and Marketability Discounts, and Undervaluation Penalty, Estate of Richmond v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo New York Estate, Gift, GST, and Trust Income Tax Issues Family Limited Partnership Attack for Estate Inclusion Without Any Discounts, Estate of Williams Valuation of Real Property in 2009 (When Comparables Were Not Available Reflecting Depresed Values Folliwing the 2008 Crash Because Properties Were Not Selling), Estate of Lovins Appraiser Failed to Testify; Estate Arguing Lower Value Than on Form 706, Estate of Tanenblatt Early Termination of Charitable Remainder Trusts Garnishment from Discretionary Spendthrift Trusts Material Participation by Trustee, Frank Aragona Trust Interesting Quotations APPENDIX A APPENDIX B ii
4 Copyright Bessemer Trust Company, N.A. All rights reserved. April 18, 2014 Important Information Regarding This Summary This summary is for your general information. The discussion of any estate planning alternatives and other observations herein are not intended as legal or tax advice and do not take into account the particular estate planning objectives, financial situation or needs of individual clients. This summary is based upon information obtained from various sources that Bessemer believes to be reliable, but Bessemer makes no representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy or completeness of such information. Views expressed herein are current only as of the date indicated, and are subject to change without notice. Forecasts may not be realized due to a variety of factors, including changes in law, regulation, interest rates, and inflation. iii
5 INTRODUCTION The 48th Annual Philip E. Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning was again held in Orlando during the week of January 13, I have summarized some of my observations from the week, as well as other observations from various current developments and interesting estate planning issues. My goal is not to provide a general summary of the presentations. The summaries provided on the American Bar Association Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section website, that are prepared by a number of reporters, and coordinated by Joe Hodges, do an excellent job of that. Rather, this is a summary of observations of selected items during the week as well as a discussion of other items. I sometimes identify speakers, but often do not. I take no credit for any of the outstanding ideas discussed at the Institute I am instead relaying the ideas of others that were discussed during the week. 1. LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS a. Overview of Administration s Fiscal Year 2015 Revenue Proposals. The Treasury on March 4, 2014 released the General Explanations of the Administration s Fiscal Year 2015 Revenue Proposals (often referred to as the Greenbook ) to provide the details of the administration s budget proposals. For a discussion of the proposals impacting estate planning in the 2014 Fiscal Revenue Proposals, see Item 2 of the Hot Topics and Current Developments Summary (December 2013) found here and available at A few summary comments about particular proposals in the Greenbook are included below. b. Transfer Tax Legislation Unlikely in The various transfer tax proposals will likely proceed only as part of a general tax reform package, and not as a package of separate transfer tax legislation. There have been some indications, however, that transfer taxes are not being considered in the reform measures. There are two chances of tax reform in 2014 slim and none. Congressional taxwriting committees have spent a lot of time over the last year laying the groundwork for comprehensive tax reform. The House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee both held hearings in 2013 about various issues related to tax reform. There is a broad consensus of an aspiration for tax reform (both business as well as individual tax reform) but strong disagreement over details of reform and whether the overall reform would be revenue neutral. It is very unlikely that we will see general tax reform in 2014 it would require a factious Congress coming to agreement on highly charged political issues in an election year; furthermore, Senator Baucus, Past Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has left the Senate (having been appointed as the ambassador to China) and the new Chair of the Senate Finance Committee (Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat from Oregon) will be starting over with his own plan for general tax reform. Any serious tax reform effort will probably start with corporate tax reform and bleed over into individual reform measures. The likelihood of transfer tax legislation (which itself is always politically charged) this year is almost nil. Inclusion of some of the specific transfer tax measures that would 1
6 raise some revenue is always possible, however, as an add-on to other legislation that needs revenue offsets to help pay for the legislation. c. Summary of Specific Proposals. Restore 2009 estate, gift and GST Tax parameters, beginning in This proposal is not taken seriously. (Estimated 10-year revenue: $ billion.) Require consistency of basis for transfer and income tax purposes. This proposal has generally been well received. However, Carol Harrington observes that this provision is unfair because the beneficiary may have had no input in the estate tax audit negotiations, and the executor may have traded off on the valuation of various assets. With this provision, the executor will have to consider the effect of audit negotiations on the basis of assets received by the various individual beneficiaries. (Estimated ten-year revenue:$2.501 billion, up from $1.896 billion that was estimated in the 2014 Fiscal Year plan and from $2.014 billion that was estimated in the 2013 Fiscal Year plan.) New GRAT requirements. Requirements include (i) a 10-year minimum term, (ii) a maximum term of life expectancy plus 10 years, (iii) a remainder value greater than zero, and (iv) no decrease in the annuity amount in any year. Several years ago, this was included in various bills that needed revenue offset, but it has not been included in any bills over the last year. The proposal applies to GRATs created after date of enactment; it is extremely unlikely that this will be retroactive to the beginning of the year (as was done probably inadvertently as to this provision in the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 legislative proposal). (Estimated ten-year revenue: $5.711 billion, up from $3.894 billion in the 2014 Fiscal Year plan and $3.334 billion in 2013 Fiscal Year plan.) Limit duration of GST exemption to 90 years. This proposal has not generated a groundswell of criticism. The proposal would apply to trusts created after the date of enactment and to the portion of preexisting trusts attributable to additions after that date (subject to rules substantially similar to the grandfather rules). (Estimated ten-year revenue impact: Negligible.) Sales to grantor trusts. This proposal has been substantially narrowed from the proposal in the 2013 Fiscal Year Plan to include all grantor trusts in the settlor s gross estate. Nevertheless, it is still a huge change and passage seems unlikely. The proposal applies to trusts that engage in a sale, exchange or similar transaction on or after the date of enactment. Carol Harrington s observation: The government created the grantor trust rules and did not coordinate them with the wealth transfer tax Now they are shocked and appalled to find that we have used the law to our advantage. The government s answer is to layer an even more complex system on top of the transfer tax. The 2015 Fiscal Year proposal clarifies that it would not apply to any irrevocable trust whose only assets typically consist of one or more life insurance policies on the life of the grantor and/or the grantor s spouse. 2
7 Estimated ten-year revenue: $1.644 billion, up from $1.087 billion in the 2014 Fiscal Year plan; interestingly this is less than the consistency of basis provision [$2.501 billion] and the GRAT provision [$5.711 billion].) Section 6166 estate lax lien. The special estate tax lien under 6324(a)(1) would last for the full period that estate tax is deferred under 6166 rather than being limited to just 10 years after the date of death. (Estimated ten-year revenue: $213 million, up from $160 million in the 2014 Fiscal Year plan.) This almost certainly will be included in any transfer tax legislation that passes. Health and Education Exclusion Trusts. HEET trusts are a seldom used strategy to create a long term trust out of which tuition and medical payments could be made for future generations without any GST tax. Unfortunately, the proposal is Draconian in approach. It would eliminate the current exclusion under 2503(e) for payments from a trust for the health or tuition payments for second generation (and more remote) beneficiaries. Furthermore, the proposal has a seldom used very harsh effective date provision applying to trusts created after and transfers after the date of the introduction of this bill. Carol Harrington s reaction (joking): HEETS are not great anyway But based on this proposal, I may have to rethink this. They must be a lot better than I thought. (Estimated ten-year revenue: Negative $218 million) Simplify Gift Tax Annual Exclusion. Referencing the complexity of administering Crummey trusts and the potential abuse of having multiple beneficiaries with withdrawal powers most of whom would never receive a distribution from the trust, the administration proposes deleting the present interest requirement for annual exclusion gifts, allowing $14,000 per donee exclusion for most outright transfers, and adding a new category of gifts to which a $50,000 per donor annual limit would apply. The proposal applies to gifts made after the year of enactment. The Greenbook describes the proposal in very brief terms as follows: The proposal would eliminate the present interest requirement for gifts that qualify for the gift tax annual exclusion. Instead, the proposal would define a new category of transfers (without regard to the existence of any withdrawal or put rights), and would impose an annual limit of $50,000 per donor on the donor s transfers of property within this new category that will qualify for the gift tax annual exclusion. Thus, a donor s transfers in the new category in a single year in excess of a total amount of $50,000 would be taxable, even if the total gifts to each individual donee did not exceed $14,000. The new category would include transfers in trust (other than to a trust described in section 2642(c)(2)), transfers of interests in passthrough entities, transfers of interests subject to a prohibition on sale, and other transfers of property that, without regard to withdrawal, put, or other such rights in the donee, cannot immediately be liquidated by the donee. The reference to transfers of interests in passthrough entities probably relates to the complexities of whether interests in partnerships or LLC constitute present 3
8 interests (which the IRS has had success in attacking, as reflected in the Hackl, Price, and Fisher cases). The effect of the proposal is to allow gift tax annual exclusions for: Gifts paid directly for tuition or medical expenses, 2503(e); Gifts of $14,000 per year (in 2014, indexed amount) (but not including gifts to trusts [other than vested trusts, as discussed immediately below], passthrough entity interest gifts, transfers subject to sale prohibitions, and transfers that cannot immediately be liquidated by the donee) for (i) outright gifts (other than gifts to trusts other than vested trusts, passthrough entity interest gifts, transfers subject to sale prohibitions, and transfers that cannot immediately be liquidated by the donee) and (ii) gifts to vested trusts (described in 2642(c)(2), which has the effect of allowing a trust similar to 2503(c) trusts but without the requirement of terminating at age 21); and Gifts of up to $50,000 annually in the aggregate (regardless how many donees enjoy such gifts) for (i) trust transfers (other than transfers to vested trusts, for which the $14,000 per donee exclusion would apply), (ii) passthrough entity interest gifts, (iii) transfers subject to sale prohibitions, and (iv) transfers that cannot immediately be liquidated by the donee. (Estimated ten-year revenue: $2.924 billion) Expand Applicability of Definition of Executor. The definition of executor in the Internal Revenue Code applies only for purposes of the estate tax. There is no one with explicit authority to act on behalf of the decedent with regard to a tax liability that arose prior to the decedent s death. This includes actions such as extending the statute of limitations, claim a refund, agreeing to a compromise or assessment, or pursing judicial relief regarding a tax liability. The proposal would make the Code s definition of executor applicable for all tax purposes and authorize such executor to do anything on behalf of the decedent in connection with the decedent s pre-death tax liabilities or obligations that the decedent could have done if still living. Regulations could provide rules to resolve conflicts among multiple executors. The proposal would be effective upon enactment, regardless of a decedent s date of death. (Estimate ten-year revenue: Zero) Omission of Section 2704 proposal. In prior years the Obama administration has proposed revising 2704 to add an additional category of applicable restrictions (to be provided in regulations) that would be disregarded in valuing transferred assets. That proposal was dropped in the 2013 Fiscal Year plan. (This prior proposal had an estimated 10-year revenue impact of $ billion in 2013 Fiscal Year plan, which is significantly more than all the estate and gift tax proposals combined in the 2014 Fiscal Year Plan other than the proposal to return rates and exemptions to the 2009 parameters. The Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation refused to score this proposal because it 4
9 depends entirely on positions taken in regulations, and the IRS cannot consult with them about its thinking on provisions that might be in proposed regulations.) While the IRS has previously worked on a 2704 regulation project regarding restrictions on the liquidation of an interest in certain corporations and partnerships, this does not appear to be a Treasury priority. Reporting requirement for sale of life insurance policies and eliminate transfer for value exceptions. Hopefully, the legislation would be limited to purchases of policies by third-party investors as opposed to transfers of policies among the policy owner and related persons, trusts or entities. Payment to non-spouse beneficiaries of inherited IRAs and retirement plans over five years. The 2014 Fiscal Year Plan added a new proposal requiring that nonspouse beneficiaries of inherited retirement plans and IRAs generally must take distributions over no more than five years. Exceptions are provided for disabled beneficiaries, chronically ill beneficiaries, individuals not more than 10 years younger than the participant, and minor beneficiaries. The 2014 Fiscal Year plan did not specifically make this requirement applicable to Roth IRAs. The 2015 Fiscal Year plan provides that all of the minimum distribution rules would apply to Roth IRAs the same as other IRAs (applicable for taxpayers reaching age 70 ½ after 2014). Therefore, Roth IRAs would be subject to the 5-year distribution requirement. The proposal would be effective for plan participants or IRA owners dying after 2014, the proposal appears to apply to Roth IRAs only if the owner reached age 70 ½ after 2014 and died after This proposal, while a dramatic change, has significant acceptance on a policy basis (of requiring that retirement plans be used for retirement). (Estimated 10-year revenue: $5.159 billion) Limit total accrual of tax favored retirement benefits. This proposal, also added in the 2014 Fiscal Year Plan, generally would limit the deduction for contributions to retirement plans or IRAs with total balances under all such plans that are sufficient to provide an annual benefit of an indexed amount, representing plan amounts of about $3.2 million for a 62-year old individual in Commentators have observed that this provision can be complex to administer because individuals would have to disclose the value of all of their retirement plans to employers, who would then have to monitor the value of all such plans. (Estimated 10-year revenue: $9.342 billion) Eliminate MRD requirements for qualified plans and IRAs under aggregate amount of $100,000 (indexed). The minimum distribution rules would not apply if the aggregate value of the individual s IRA and qualified plan accumulations does not exceed $100,000 (indexed for inflation). The proposal applies to individuals reaching age 70 ½ after 2014 or who die after 2014 before attaining age 70 ½. 60-Day Rollover for Inherited Retirement Benefits. Surviving spouses may received benefits from an IRA outright and roll them over to another IRA (a
10 day rollover ), but beneficiaries other than spouses may only make a trustee-totrustee transfer from the decedent s IRA to an inherited IRA. The 2015 Fiscal Year plan for the first time acknowledges that the trustee-to-trustee transfer requirement creates traps for the unwary for non-spouse beneficiaries, and allows non-spouse beneficiaries to make 60-day rollovers to another IRA. The proposal applies to distributions after (Estimated 10-year revenue: Zero) Enhance administrability of appraiser penalty. Section 6694 imposes a preparer penalty for unreasonable positions and for willful or reckless conduct. Section 6695A imposes an appraiser penalty if the claimed value of property based on an appraiser results in a substantial or gross valuation misstatement. There is an exception if the appraisal is more likely than not the proper value. The proposal states that this is not an administrable standard for an exception to the appraisal penalty, and replaces with a reasonable cause exception. In addition, the appraiser penalty would not apply if the appraiser is also subject to the prepare penalty. The proposal would apply to returns frilled after (Estimate 10-year revenue: Zero). 2. TREASURY-IRS PRIORITY GUIDANCE PLAN; BDITS The Treasury-IRS Priority Guidance Plan (for the 12 months beginning July 1, 2013) was released on August 9, It includes all ten projects that were included in last year s Plan under the heading Gifts and Estates and Trusts and also includes one additional item dealing with the application of Rev. Proc regarding the validity of a QTIP election on an estate tax return filed only to elect portability. Like last year s plan, there is no decanting project. (After receiving many comments about decanting in response to Notice ,the IRS says informally that it is working on guidance regarding the tax effects of decanting, but no guidance will be issued this year [or I suspect for a long time thereafter]). For a detailed discussion of the Priority Guidance Plan, see Aucutt, ACTEC Capital Letter No. 34, Priority Guidance Plan Published, Commissioner Nominated (Aug. 12, 2013). a. Unbundling Requirement Under 67(e). One of the items on the Priority Guidance Plan is the issuance of regulations regarding the application of 67(e) to trusts, following the Supreme Court s decision in Knight v. Commissioner. Proposed regulations impose an unbundling requirement on trusts to identify the portion of trustee fees and professional fees that are subject to the 2% haircut rule for the deduction of miscellaneous itemized deductions by trusts under 67(e). The IRS had issued proposed regulations prior to the Knight decision and in 2011 issued a new set of proposed regulations after the Knight case. The IRS continued its approach of imposing the unbundling requirement despite substantial criticism of those provisions in the initial proposed regulations. The IRS has committed that it will not impose an unbundling requirement until the trust tax year that begins after the final regulations are issued. Notice The IRS did not issue final regulations in 2013, so the unbundling requirement will not apply to calendar-year trusts (and most trusts are on a calendar-year) until tax years beginning (at the earliest) on January 1, 2015 (returns being due in April 2016). 6
11 b. BDITs. The Beneficiary Defective Inheritor s Trust is not on the Priority Guidance Plan, but the IRS has expressed concern with the BDIT. The BDIT is a trust created by a nominal third party with a nominal amount (typically $5,000) that is designed to be a grantor trust as to the beneficiary under 678 based on the beneficiary s withdrawal power. The withdrawal power typically lapses gift and estate tax free under 2514(e) and 2041(a)(2). The beneficiary might later sell assets to the trust to build its value. Because the beneficiary never makes any gifts to the trust, the beneficiary could be the trustee and a beneficiary of the trust (subject to a HEMS standard). See generally Luke T. Tashjian, The Use of Beneficiary Defective Trusts in Modern Estate Planning, 48 REAL PROP., TRUST AND EST. L.J. 353 (Fall 2013). Does it work? The IRS has expressed its concern in two ways. The IRS added the sale to a BDIT transaction to its no-ruling list for the first time in Rev. Proc , I.R.B. 113, 4.01 (43, 48-52) (no rulings as to 678, 2035, 2036, 2037, 2038, and 2042). In addition, the sale to grantor trust legislative proposal specifically refers to the deemed owner under the grantor trust rules, which undoubtedly is a reference to trusts treated as being owned by the beneficiary under 678. This is the IRS s shot across the bow suggesting that the IRS is questioning the BDIT concept, though not expressing reasons why it does not work. 3. GENERAL APPROACHES TO ESTATE PLANNING FOLLOWING ATRA; THE NEW NORMAL a. The New Normal. There is a new normal of estate planning in light of the (i) transfer tax certainty, (ii) large indexed transfer tax exemptions (which is, by far, the most important change), and (iii) portability provided by ATRA. (In 2001, 120,000 estate tax returns were filed, of which 60,000 were for taxable estates. In 2012, less than 4,000 taxable estate tax returns were filed. Estimates are that only about 0.14% of decedents will be subject to the federal estate tax.) Income tax changes may significantly impact trusts. The new normal will also include planning for a growing number of elderly clients. Many clients are baby boomers (now 50-68) moving into retirement years. They will be having more and more of the issues related to aging, including taking care of elderly parents and accumulating assets to support themselves for the rest of their lives. The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2050 there will be 86.7 million citizens age 65 and older in the U.S., comprising 21% of the population. The number of people in the age 65 and older group will grow by 147% between 2000 and 2050, compared to 49% growth in the general population. b. Planning for Married Couples Under $5 Million. The major focus for estate planning for couples having assets under $5.34 million will be (i) core dispositive planning, (ii) income tax planning (for example, achieving basis step up at death), and (iii) preservation and management of assets (including asset protection planning and traditional elder law planning issues). Trusts may continue to be important for these clients for purposes other than saving federal estate tax (distribution management, 7
12 investment management, controlling where assets ultimately pass, creditor protection, divorce protection, etc.). Federal transfer taxes are generally irrelevant. Traditional planning concepts need to be re-examined in light of the large federal exclusion. For example, steps that are taken to assure qualification for the annual exclusion, to avoid retained interests in trusts, etc. may no longer be necessary. Putting up with owning life insurance in an irrevocable life insurance trust and the complexity of funding the trust to pay premiums would seem irrelevant for most of these clients for federal estate tax purposes (but having assets paid to trusts for the traditional non-tax advantages of trusts will still be important). An issue that planners may increasingly face in the future is the situation of surviving spouses who are named as executors who refuse to fund traditional bypass trusts (thinking that transfer taxes will never be an issue and the spouse would prefer to utilize the basis step-up at the second spouse s death). State transfer tax planning may still be relevant for states with a state estate tax having an exemption level that is less than the federal exclusion amount. (The state income and transfer tax planning strategies discussed in Items 4.h, 5.k and 25 may also be appropriate for clients with under $5 million.) Ironically, it might seem that smaller estates do not need complicated planning, but these are the families that can least afford to be paying tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in state estate taxes. (If $2 million could be sheltered from the gross estate for state estate tax purposes at the surviving spouse s death, this would result in state estate tax savings of over $100,000-based on the state death tax credit table in 2011(b) that is still used by many states that have state estate taxes.) Clients will continue to need estate planning documents disposing of their assets among their desired beneficiaries and coordinating beneficiary designations to achieve the desired result. Existing estate planning documents should be reviewed from a new perspective. How will formula clauses operate in light of state estate taxes, higher exclusions and lifetime gifts? Will much (or all) of the estate be left to a credit shelter trust that no longer will generate federal estate tax savings (and may generate state estate taxes at the first spouse s death)? Existing trusts should be reviewed in terms of their purposes and whether administration modifications may be appropriate. Beneficiary designations should be reviewed. Designating certain types of trusts (designed for federal estate tax savings) as beneficiaries may no longer be appropriate. For further discussion of planning issues for couples with under $5 million, see Item 7.b of the Hot Topics and Current Developments Summary (December 2013) available at c. Planning for Couples in $5-10 Million Range. In addition to the planning issues discussed above, a primary estate planning decision for clients in this range will be whether to use a credit shelter trust or rely on portability at the first spouse s death. A wide variety of issues may impact that decision, but a central decision point is whether to focus on saving federal or state estate taxes or maximizing the benefits of basisstep-up at the surviving spouse s subsequent death. A more detailed discussion of 8
13 planning for clients with under $10 million is discussed in Item 4 below, and portability is discussed in Item 5 below. d. Planning for Couples Above $10 Million. Traditional planning strategies for large estates will continue to apply. A new wrinkle is that the gift exemption amount will increase each year with indexing (it increased by $130,000 in 2013 from $5,120,000 to $5,250,000 and increased by $90,000 in 2014 to $5,340,000) and the decision will have to be made how to best use the increased gift exemption amount each year (if at all). 4. PLANNING FOR COUPLES HAVING UNDER $10 MILLION a. Overview. Planning for couples having under $10 million has changed dramatically in light of the indexed $5 million gift, estate and GST exemptions, and with portability. Only the estates of the wealthiest 0.14 percent of Americans fewer than 2 out of every 1,000 people who die will owe any federal estate tax. While federal estate tax planning will be less important, Dennis Belcher and Carol Harrington conclude that planning is more difficult for the $5-10 million client than the $100 million client. They emphasize that it is hard work; we must talk with clients and dig deeper into their particular situations. Jeff Pennell adds that because the planning is more difficult, preserving flexibility is even more important. Planning will change dramatically; previously, planning for these clients defaulted to a credit shelter trust plan and the only major issue was who would serve as trustees. A paradigm shift in estate planning practices is that there may be longer conference time learning issues that are important to clients. A question will be can planners charge for that extra time? (Carol Harrington s response: It s like the man who fell out of a building, and on passing the 10 th floor said so far, so good. ) Other planners have noted that attorneys will need to continue to be more efficient in document production as the emphasis shifts to consulting and planning issues rather than document production. Estate planning for these clients will focus on: traditional non-tax planning issues (including core dispositive and management planning [as an aside the average investor earned 2.1% per year over the twenty year period ended December 31, 2011, compared to the S&P 500 annualized return of 7.8%]; trusts may continue to be important (distribution and investment management, asset protection, controlling where assets ultimately pass); portability as to federal estate tax concerns; state estate tax planning issues (for clients who live or who may move to decoupled states); 9
14 income tax concerns (including basis adjustment planning and addressing the increased income tax costs of using trusts) (the income tax concerns will surface as clients pay their 2013 income taxes); blended family issues; and a myriad of other issues that can arise in particular situations. While planning has changed dramatically for couples having under $10 million, we must remember that a $10 million estate is a very large estate (and the size of estate for which planners have done a wide variety of sophisticated strategies in the past for reducing estate taxes as well as achieving other goals). b. Traditional Non-Tax Planning. Following the passage of ATRA, Lou Mezzullo, President of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, sent a letter to ACTEC Fellows reminding them of the many services that professionals provide to clients other than federal transfer tax planning. He provides the following list, not meant to be exhaustive, of some of those items (quoted with his permission). 1. Planning for the disposition of the client s assets at his or her death. 2. Asset protection planning. 3. Planning for disability and incompetency. 4. Business succession planning (without the estate tax to blame for failure of a business). 5. Planning for marital and other dissolutions. 6. Charitable giving (for its own sake, and because income tax considerations will still be relevant and techniques, such as lifetime charitable remainder trusts to facilitate diversification, would not be affected at all). 7. Life insurance planning (other than to provide funds to pay taxes). 8. Fiduciary litigation (enhanced because more to fight over). 9. Retirement planning. 10. Planning to pay state death taxes (in many states). 11. Planning to avoid or minimize gift taxes (and client desires to gift more than the $5 million indexed applicable exclusion amount for gift tax purposes). 12. Using business entities to accomplish nontax objectives. 13. Planning for children with disabilities. 14. Planning for spendthrift children. 10
15 15. Planning for clients with real estate in more than one state, including ownership, asset protection, state income taxation, spousal rights, and probate issues (in addition to state estate tax). 16. Planning for clients who are U.S. citizens or resident aliens who own property in other countries. 17. Planning for nonresident aliens with assets in the U.S. or who plan to move to the U.S. 18. Planning for citizens who intend to change their citizenship. 19. Planning for possible decrease in the estate, gift, and GST tax exemptions and/or increase in the transfer tax rates. 20. Planning to pay education expenses, including contributing to I.R.C. 529 plans. 21. Planning to deal with non-tax regulatory issues, such as the Patriot Act, HIPAA, and charitable governance reform. 22. Identifying guardians for minor children, if and when needed. c. Portability. Unless the couple owns assets close to double the exemption amount and still have significant growth years ahead, the couple will likely not owe any federal estate tax, whether the credit shelter approach or portability approach is used. For these clients, the major issues are: Use a credit shelter trust up to the state exclusion amount (if the state has an estate tax and if the state does not recognize portability [Delaware and Hawaii do recognize portability for their state estate taxes]); Leave qualified retirement plan and IRA benefits outright to surviving spouses (to take advantage of the longer-term payout opportunities afforded to spouses); Trust vs. no trust planning (i.e., are the non-tax advantages of trusts important to the client); Blended family concerns use the credit shelter trust approach (see Item 5.f regarding blended family planning complexities); If trusts will be used, is it important for both the surviving spouse and descendants to be discretionary beneficiaries after the first spouse s death? (if so, use credit shelter planning); Overall fixed income portfolio allocation if the credit shelter trust could be funded with the fixed income portion of the overall portfolio, there are minimal concerns of losing basis step-up at the second spouse s death because there will likely be few unrealized gains in the trust; 11
16 Asset protection significance assets that are protected from creditor claims under state law (such as tenants by the entireties, retirement accounts, homestead property and life insurance) can be left in those forms with portability to maintain the asset protected status of the assets; and Basis issues cannot be ignored (but ways of obtaining basis step up even with credit shelter trust planning may be possible); See Item 5 for a more detailed discussion of portability issues. d. Blended Families. Over 29 million parents (13 percent) are also stepparents to other children. Forty percent of married couples with children (i.e., families) in the U.S. are step-couples (at least one partner has a child from a previous relationship; this includes full and part-time residential stepfamilies and those with children under and/or over the age of 18). A very large block of clients will have blended family issues. (And some planners have noted that every family is just one death and remarriage away from being a dysfunctional family.) e. Titling of Assets. If clients rely on portability to take advantage of both spouses exemption amounts, re-titling of assets to assure that each spouse has sufficient assets to fund a credit shelter trust is no longer necessary. (That may still be a consideration, though, for clients living in decoupled states that have relatively low state exemption amounts.) Tenancy by the entireties designations may be more widely used than in the past to take advantage of the asset protection features of that designation. Also give consideration to creditor concerns be wary of leaving the bulk of the marital assets in the name of the spouse with the greatest liability exposure. Clients feel more comfortable seeing both of their names on the trust property. f. Domicile and Residence. Domicile (which controls for estate tax purposes and depends on the client s intent) and residence (which controls for income tax purposes) concerns may become relatively more important in the overall planning to avoid state estate taxes and state income taxes. Especially if a client lives in one state and works in another state, be wary of owning a vacation home or condo in the employment-state; that might help avoid double taxation. g. Review and Repurpose Pre-existing Planning. Existing estate planning documents should be reviewed from a new perspective. How will formula clauses operate in light of state estate taxes, higher exclusions and lifetime gifts? Will much (or all) of the estate be left to a credit shelter trust that no longer will generate federal estate tax savings? If so, substantial state estate taxes may be generated at the first spouse s death. If clients have made large gifts in the past, trusts should be reviewed to determine the operation of those trusts. Is the trustee structure and are other provisions of the trusts working appropriately, or should modifications be made? Should adjustments be made to the estate plan in light of the prior gifts and now larger federal exemptions? Should expectations regarding future gifts be clarified with family members? 12
17 Irrevocable Trusts. Existing irrevocable trusts may need to be modified in light of the changing circumstances. (See Item 24 below regarding trust modifications.) Grantor Trusts. The client may want to take steps to turn off grantor trust status to avoid paying income taxes on the income of existing trusts if that achieves no wealth transfer benefit. However, keeping grantor trust status may be very helpful if the client wishes to substitute illiquid assets into the trust in return for liquid assets for living expenses. Crummey Trusts; One-Time Withdrawal Notice. If the trust includes a Crummey clause, the client may no longer be concerned with using up estate exclusion (thinking that the indexed increases in the exclusion amount will readily cover whatever increases there are in the couple s estates); the trustee might give a one-time notice to beneficiaries of the withdrawal rights for any trust contributions, and not bother with giving notices of additions to the trust in the future. FLP/LLCs or Other Entities. If entities have been created largely for estate discounting purposes (the IRS believes that is the primary reason clients create entities), steps might be taken to avoid the discounts (so that a greater basis step-up would be available at the owner s death). One possible idea might be to revise the entity s documents to provide that the entity would make a distribution to the owner equal to the amount of estate tax attributable to the owner s interest (which the IRS argues would trigger 2036 to cause the entity s assets to be included in the gross estate). That may be sufficient to cause the entity s assets to be included in the grantor s gross estate but leave the entity in existence for other non-tax purposes of the entity. Other entity changes could revise state law limitations regarding transfers of interests at the owner s death. Pesky provisions added to assist in qualifying transfers of interests in the entity for the annual exclusion might be dropped. FLPs may continue to have income shifting advantages if the partnership passes muster under 704(e). Fractionalized Interests. If the ownership of some assets has been intentionally fractionalized in the past (e.g., to obtain fractionalization discounts for fractional interests in real estate), consider consolidating those interests with interspousal transfers or by transfers between grantor trusts. QPRTs. If QPRTs no longer serve a federal estate tax advantage, consider whether the client might repurchase the residence (perhaps despite a prohibition in the trust agreement that was inserted merely to meet tax requirements). Consider having the grantors continue to live in the residence past the QPRT term for no or nominal rent (perhaps with remaindermen giving consents), to raise an argument of inclusion of the residence in the gross estate under 2036 as a transfer with an implied agreement of retained enjoyment. 13
18 Existing Bypass Trusts. Even though there may be no federal estate tax advantages of existing bypass trusts, the trust may be helpful as an income shifting tool by making distributions not to the surviving spouse but to descendants (as well as being helpful for non-tax purposes). h. State Estate Tax Planning. There is significant planning complexity in decoupled states. About 20 states have decoupled from the federal estate tax. In most decoupled states, the maximum rate is 16% (in Washington state, it is 19%). Many states have exemption amounts much lower than the federal exclusion amount. The exemption is currently $1 million in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and Oregon (and is just $675,000 in New Jersey). Even if a state bypass trust is used, the goal may not be to shift as much appreciation into the trust as possible during the surviving spouse s subsequent lifetime that would avoid a possible 16% state estate tax on the estate appreciation but might incur a possible 23.8% federal combined capital gains/nii tax (plus state capital gains taxes, if applicable) on the appreciation if the assets are sold soon after the spouse s subsequent death. The income tax resulting from not getting a basis stepup may be lower than this, however; for example, this could happen due to turnover in the portfolio after the first spouse s death so that gains have already been recognized on some portion of the appreciation occurring after the first spouse s death. Outright to Spouse Plan. The clients may prefer the simplicity of an outright to spouse plan even though doing so will cost some state estate tax at the second spouse s death; at least the rate is significantly less than the federal estate tax rate. The disadvantages are the added state estate tax (which can still be considerable) and giving up the non-tax advantages of trust planning. Outright to Spouse With Disclaimed Assets Passing to Bypass Trust. This still uses the simple plan as the starting point. Following the first spouse s death, the decision can be made as to how much the surviving spouse would disclaim, to pass into a bypass trust that would not be subject to state estate tax at the surviving spouse s subsequent death. This decision may be made using a more granular approach by disclaiming assets that will either be held for a very long time period after the surviving spouse s life expectancy, or which are not likely to have significant appreciation potential (again keeping in mind that the income tax cost of not getting a basis step-up at the second spouse s death may outweigh the potential 16% state testate tax). Emphasize Asset Location Decisions. Bypass trusts are typically funded following the first spouse s death when the couple is already in their 70s. At least half of the portfolio may be in fixed income investments at that point. The fixed income investments could be funded to the state bypass trust. That amount would escape state estate taxes at the second spouse s subsequent death, and there would likely be little capital appreciation to worry about losing basis step-up at the second spouse s death. 14
19 Formula State Exemption Bypass Trust, Balance Outright to Spouse. Because disclaimers sometimes don t happen as a practical matter, the clients may want to mandate that the bypass trust will be funded with the state exemption amount at the first spouse s death. Formula State Exemption Bypass Trust, Balance Up To Federal Exemption to State QTIP Trust. If the state allows a state-only QTIP election, the estate could first fund the state exemption amount into a bypass trust, next fund an amount up to the federal exemption amount in a trust for which the QTIP election is made only for state purposes (this is sometime referred to as a gap trust ), and the balance (if any) could pass to a trust for which a state and federal QTIP election is made. This has the advantage of effectively having a federal bypass trust for an amount up to the full federal credit. However, the loss of the basis step-up together with the added incremental income tax costs of the gap trust may outweigh the federal estate tax benefits (probably nonexistent for the under $10 million couple). There is also an obvious loss of distribution flexibility since all of the net income of a QTIP trust must be distributed annually to the surviving spouse. Formula State Exemption Bypass Trust, Balance to QTIP Trust. Some states (like New York and New Jersey) provide that the federal QTIP election (or nonelection) is binding for state estate tax purposes as well. Leaving the balance above the state exemption amount to a QTIP trust would have the advantage of using trust planning for non-tax purposes for all of the estate at the first spouse s death. Potential concerns have been raised in light of Rev. Proc , but the IRS will likely give favorable guidance allowing the use of QTIP trusts with portability, even though there is no requirement to file the federal estate tax return other than to make the portability election. See Item 5.g for further discussion about Rev. Proc Outright Bequest to Spouse Followed by Gift to Heirs Using DSUE. The gift by the surviving spouse would assure being able to take advantage of the first spouse s DSUE amount in case the surviving spouse remarries and survives the new spouse who leave no DSUE amount. (If a bequest had been made directly to the children to use the federal exemption amount, substantial state estate taxes might be generated at the first spouse s death.) Outright Bequest to Spouse Followed by Gift to Grantor Trust Using DSUE. This is a possible strategy for mega-estates to achieve the transfer planning advantages of the spouse having a grantor trust (permitting sales of assets to the trust by the spouse, and the spouse pays the income taxes of the trust [the grantor trust burn ]). The swap power could be used to achieve a basis stepup on appreciated assets. However, couples with $10 million are unlikely to use this strategy. Outright Bequest to Spouse Followed by Gift to Trust in DAPT State. For couples with under $10 million, the surviving spouse will likely want to be a 15
20 potential discretionary beneficiary of the gift amount (if the spouse is willing to make a gift at all). A gift to a trust under the laws of a domestic asset protection trust (DAPT) would allow that as a possible strategy. (There is uncertainty as to whether or not a domiciliary in a non-dapt state can establish such a trust in a DAPT jurisdiction and have it respected so that his or her claimants cannot reach the trust assets. See Shenkman & Rothschild, Self-Settled Trust Planning in the Aftermath of the Rush University Case, Leimberg Asset Protection Planning Newsletter (Dec. 6, 2012). Outright Bequest to Spouse Followed by Non-Qualified Disclaimer to Use DSUE. The surviving spouse could make a non-qualified disclaimer of a portion of the estate, with the assets passing to a trust for children (or if in a DAPT state, to a trust with the spouse as a discretionary beneficiary). Because the disclaimer is non-qualified, it would not disqualify the state estate tax marital deduction. i. Changing Drafting Considerations. Powers of Attorney. Carefully consider with the client whether to include gift provisions. Because there are no federal estate tax advantages for couples under $10 million, should agents be authorized to make any gifts at all? Does that open up the potential for elder abuse? Gifts might still be helpful, however, to avoid state estate taxes for clients living in a decoupled state. Revocable Trusts. Similarly, re-consider gift provisions in revocable trusts. Health Proxies. Consider whether some reminder should be made of exercising swaps to achieve a basis increase before pulling the plug. Wills. If bypass trusts are included in Wills, consider including descendants as discretionary beneficiaries for income shifting purposes. Consider investment provisions. If the bypass trust is funded predominantly with fixed income assets, there may be no disadvantage of not having a basis increase on the bypass trust assets at the second spouse s death. That may require a revision to the standard investment provisions so that the trustee is authorized to invest solely in fixed income assets. Consider including in bypass trusts flexible measures that may allow causing estate inclusion at the surviving spouse s (or other beneficiary s death) to allow a basis step-up at that time. See Item 7. Trusts. Consider providing that capital gains are allocated to income (so that capital gains will be included in DNI and distributions will carry out capital gains to beneficiaries for income tax purposes). If capital gains are allocated to principal, give the trustee discretion to take the position that distributions include gains realized during the year. See Item 9.l-m for a discussion of income shifting concerns for capital gains in trusts. 16
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