What if you could give your children assets in a trust and they could use them and yet they’d avoid estate taxation at their deaths? That’s what a “Generation-Skipping Transfer” Trust, or “GST” trust does. It is a trust which is designed to avoid estate taxation at the death of the beneficiary.
How “GST”s Work
During the life of the beneficiaries, the assets in the trust are used for their health, education, maintenance, and support. After the beneficiary’s death, the assets go to his or her own children. The beneficiaries may be given a power to decide how the assets will be split among their descendants at their deaths. Yet, the assets still wouldn’t be included in the beneficiary’s taxable estate.
The beneficiary could even be his own trustee, or if it’s more appropriate (due to the beneficiary’s age or lack of financial maturity), someone else could be the trustee and manage the assets for him.
Death Taxes
This type of trust could be the ideal trust for a beneficiary who might have a taxable estate at the beneficiary’s own death. While an individual doesn’t have a taxable federal estate until they exceed $11.4 million this year, this is only temporary until the end of 2025 when it is cut in half. Also, in some states, an individual is taxed by the state if they have an estate over a lesser amount, such as $1 million.
The parents simply allocate some of their “GST” exemption at their death to this trust. This happens automatically in most cases.
For Example…
Let’s look at an example: John dies and leaves $2 million to his daughter, Beth. Beth lives in Massachusetts which has a state estate tax after just $1 million. John leaves the assets in a GST trust for Beth. So, the $2 million Beth receives in trust from John won’t be included in Beth’s estate at her death. Beth, as trustee, manages the money and uses it for her own benefit during her lifetime. Beth dies years later with $1 million of her own money plus the money in the GST trust she received from John. The money in the GST trust grew from $2 million to $3 million over the course of her life. It’s still all exempt from taxation in Beth’s estate. It saved Beth from being taxed at about 15% on the assets in the trust at her death. If Beth had a federally taxable estate, it would have saved even more.
Protection from Unnecessary Taxation
A GST trust can be a good way to keep assets out of the taxable estate of the beneficiaries, while still allowing the assets to be used for their benefit during life. If you have interest in getting your own affairs in order, call Gaughan & Connealy at (913) 262-2000 to schedule a personal consultation with Chris Gaughan or Casey Connealy.
- What the Trump Administration Could Mean for Your Estate Plan - December 2, 2024
- Litigation…a Necessary Evil? - December 2, 2024
- Now is a Good Time for a Donor Advised Fund - December 2, 2024
