MTW" <mtwingcpa[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

A disclaimer trust does provide flexibility. As for buying
a trust now - including a disclaimer trust - when there is
no current need, I put that in the same basket as buying
life insurance now on the chance that you may need it in the
future. It's like an option - but I certainly would want
you to have done *everything* else you needed to do first.

-HW "Skip" Weldon
Columbia, SC

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

johnagarcia[at]gmail.com (JohnG) wrote in news:10jcohtip963o93

- quote -

Hi John --

You need to ask your attorney what s/he thinks this trust is going to do
for you. Oftentimes, people will make up trusts as well as wills, for
different purposes. For some, they want to make sure that a surviving
spouse has access to funds during his/her lifetime while keeping the bulk
of the money set aside for the children (especially in subsequent
marriages). Some people are seeking to keep as many assets as possible
out of probate (which is public domain). Some people want to have a say
in how money gets distributed and to whom after their passing (with trust
conditions).

The name "disclaimer trust" is unfamiliar to me. I've heard pour-over
trust and living trust and testamentary trust and life insurance trust
and a number of others, but never this one.

One other thing I've noticed in your listing above -- you mention only
$200K insurance on your wife, which would take care of paying the
mortgage off should she die. Would you then have enough operating cash
to pay for extended-day day care, after school care, and summer camps
until they are old enough to be home unattended while you work? That can
be very expensive, and is frequently forgotten as a very real financial
benefit to stay-at-home parents that goes "poof" if they are no longer
there. Or perhaps that is what the $200K is meant to cover. Just a word
to look carefully at those numbers.

Don't forget the Health Care Proxy and Living Will Declarations!

Catherine

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

JohnG wrote:

- quote -

There can be lots of non-tax reasons why providing for such a
trust might be a good idea. But, strictly from a tax perspective,
your estate is not large enough (under current law) to warrant
this additional complexity.

Naturally, there is no guarantee as to what may happen to the law
in the future. Incorporating a disclaimer trust DOES allow for
future flexibility.

MTW

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

"JohnG" <johnagarcia[at]gmail.com> wrote:

- quote -


Yes.

Gene E. Utterback, EA

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

johnagarcia[at]gmail.com (JohnG) wrote:

- quote -

Dan Evans has a good article on disclaimer trusts at

http://evans-legal.com/dan/disclaimtr.html

When they're properly done, they can be a vehicle for making full use
of both spouses' unified tax credits. Income-producing assets that you
want to pass to your descendants, rather than use up in the surviving
spouse's lifetime, are suited to holding in this kind of trust. You
have a great deal of flexibility in deciding what property will go
into the trust: by providing for this in the will, the surviving
spouse can divert property into the trust by disclaiming it.

If you have an estate that is close to owing estate tax (or might, by
the time the second spouse dies), these can be more flexible than
alternatives such as bypass trusts. The surviving spouse will need
good financial and legal advice when the estate is being settled to
make good use of the trust, though.

--
Chris Green

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

- quote -

1If you do trust in the advice that you are receiving from your present
attorney, find another one.

Bruce Raskin, CPA
Small Business and Individual Tax and Accounting Services

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

JohnG wrote:

- quote -

I'd need to know more about your family and precise
situation to be able to give you the best advice.

A disclaimer trust can help save taxes. But it seems to me
that a traditional living trust with Q-TIP trust will do the
same thing but give you more flexibility.

Stu

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

We have begun the process of putting together a Will, Power
of Attorney, etc. for me and my wife. We have 2 young
children. Here's our current situation -
$300k house with $200k mortage
$120K cash
$150K retirement accounts (100K for me and $50K for wife)
$750K life insurance on me
$200K life insurance on wife

Our attorney is recommending that we put a disclaimer trust
in the will. Does this sound like the right thing to do?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->