- quote -

There are so many things that could affect the outcome that
any response would be purely hypothetical. It is like
asking me the "best way" to get from Cincinnati to
Philadelphia. The WV mountains are not good in the winter
but very scenic in the summer. Construction on the PA
turnpike might make it a must avoid. Going though Columbus,
OH on I270 could have gotten me shot a few months back but
not now. We would need a lot more information. Most of us
are not willing to provide that kind of effort for free.

All freely provided advice guarantee correct or double your
money back

Frank S. Duke, Jr. CPA
Cincinnati, OH USA

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- quote -

Nothing wrong with that. The problem is that the situation
is much more complex than you appreciate. There are many
more options than you can imagine. And you have not
included even a fraction of the facts necessary to
adequately advise you.

That's why everyone suggested seeing your tax professional.

Stu

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J. Ryans wrote:

- quote -

The problem is that the answer involves gathering a lot of
other facts about your situation, so there's no cut and
dried answer to "what to do" in this case. If you were my
client, we'd talk a bit about the matter both to determine
your beliefs about future events (those in your family and
those involving our friends in DC) and your own preferences,
including your risk tolerance (both in tax positions and
other matters) and how much "control" you want over the use
of those funds.

There are a number of potential ways to proceed, but there
is no "clearly right" way to go forward. In my view, it's
going to be a very interactive process between you and the
professional(s) involved to develop an overall plan.

--
Ed Zollars, CPA
Phoenix, Arizona

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- quote -

It does seem that this is a frequent answer. However, it is
usually the best answer because personal situations vary so
dramatically that when we seek relevancy ("What should I
do?") we would have to first disclose volumes of personal
data on this forum. In fact, most questioners wouldn't
know where to begin.

Your question also presumes that you could find any pro
worth their stuff who was willing and able to sift through
all that data for free. <grin
-HW "Skip" Weldon
Columbia, SC

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hiredhands1964[at]yahoo.com (J. Ryans) wrote:

- quote -

$750,000 per child? College is expensive, but it isn't THAT
expensive. Am I missing something?

==========================================
Moderator: I am a very good grandchild <g==========================================

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- quote -

Yes, I can afford professional advice. However, I wanted to
know if there would be relevent responses from posters other
than "go see a professional."

James

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"J. Ryans" <hiredhands1964[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

Your post doesn't give the information that a tax
professional would need to respond properly. Are you
married? Have you made any taxable gifts already? How much
of your gift tax exemption (and your spouse's exemption, if
married) is available? How much of your generation skipping
exemption (and your spouse's exemption, if married) has been
used by prior transfers? Is the parent of the
grandchildren related to you by blood (your son or daughter)
living or has that parent predeceased you?

You should consult a CPA or attorney specializing in estate
planning. Your proposed plan has numerous tax implications.

For example, transfers to or for the benefit of
grandchildren can be subject to the generation skipping tax
unless their parent related to you (your child) is deceased.
Moreover, there is a gift and generation skipping
exemption for payment of certain educational expenses, so
that parts of what you want to accomplish could be
sheltered, if structured correctly. In addition, 529 plans
for the grandchildren should also be considered. Are you
maried? If so, gift splitting with your spouse could help
you accomplish a significant portion of your goals. Proper
advice from a tax professional could potentially save
hundreds of thousands of dollars in transfer taxes.

Jon Gallo
Los Angeles

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hiredhands1964[at]yahoo.com (J. Ryans) wrote:

- quote -

Yes, I have some very good advice, go see a tax professional.

Missy Doyle

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hiredhands1964[at]yahoo.com (J. Ryans) wrote:

- quote -

With an estate of that size, don't you think that you can
afford PAID professional advice? At the least, you will need
the services of an estate lawyer to properly draft the trust
forms for these educational bequests.

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hiredhands1964[at]yahoo.com (J. Ryans) wrote:

- quote -

This is actually a fairly complicated question, since there
are many, ways of accomplishing your goals.

When you say "outright" do you mean now, or when you die?
There might be a large difference in tax implications either
way.

Assuming you mean after you die, the question again depends
on when that happens. Assuming no changes in tax law and
you survive until 2010 (and also assuming you are not
married, which will make another huge difference in all
this), and that your estate is worth $6 million when you
did, without interrim planning the estate taxes will be a
bit over $2.5 million.

However making lifetime gifts, perhaps into a family limited
partnership allowing you to retain control over the
property, could end up drastically reducing that tax,
depending on how long you life and how many beneficiaries
you have.

With an estate like yours, you really should get your estate
planning lawyer and tax professional together to talk about
your options, and find out what works for you.

Stu

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J. Ryans at hiredhands1964[at]yahoo.com wrote:

- quote -

While you may get some very competent advice in this group,
the amounts of money you describe should demand serious
professional advice from both an estate lawyer and a tax
accountant. Small mistakes in this area can cost you
hundreds of thousands of dollars. Part with a few thousand
dollars to get professional advice that someone is willing
to go to court with if necessary.

All freely provided advice guarantee correct or double your
money back

Frank S. Duke, Jr. CPA
Cincinnati, OH USA

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My estate is worth roughly $6 million. I would like to give
about $1 million to charity and dedicate $3 million for my 4
grand kids' college education. If they don't have a college
education by 29, then I would like them to have the rest of
their share of the $3 million. However, I would like an idea
of the tax implications if I were to do this outright. Any
general advice for gift planning would be greatly
appreciated.

James

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