Grantor Retained Annuity Trust Analysis

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A Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) is an estate planning technique whereby the grantor makes an irrevocable gift of assets to a trust, while retaining a payment stream from the trust in the form of an annuity usually for the life of the grantor, for a specified term of years, or for the shorter (but not longer) of those periods (1). GRATS are sometimes referred to as split-interest trusts because they are comprised of two forms of interest, the retained interest, which the grantor receives as an annuity, and the remainder interest, which passes on to the beneficiary upon termination of the trust. The gift tax on the transfer of the assets into the GRAT is determined when the GRAT is created based on the fair market value of the remainder interest at the time of the gift, which is the fair market value of the property transferred to the trust minus the value of the retained annuity interest. The retained interest is determined through an actuarial calculation that factors the present value of the annuity the grantor receives using the §7520 rate. §7520 provides, in part, that the value of any annuity is to be determined under the tables prescribed by the Secretary and by using an interest rate equal to 120 percent of the Federal midterm rate in effect under §1274(d)(1) for the month in which the valuation date falls (2). Calculating the GRAT Remainder Interest There are three steps involved in calculating the value of the remainder interest. The first step is finding the Table B annuity factor for the appropriate trust term and the applicable federal rate for the month during which the transfer to the trust occurs. Table B can be found on the IRS website. The next step is computing the value of the grantor’s an... ... middle of paper ... ...e.org/thumbs/datastorage/skoob/articles/BK45-CH01_thumb.pdf 24. http://claritywealthadvisors.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Irrevocable-Life-Insurance-Trusts-ILITs.pdf 25. http://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/estate-elder/b/estate-elder 26. http://wealthcounsel.typepad.com/legalblog/2008/03/what-are-hangin.html 27. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/secondtodieinsurance.asp 28. http://ezinearticles.com/?Grantor-Retained-Annuity-Trusts&id=3656315 29. http://www.ddrs.com/grits-grats-and-defective-grantor-trusts-the-best-laid-plans/ 30. https://pts.aboutestateplanning.com/documents/QPRT_Trust.pdf 31. Code Sec. 1361(e)(1)(A)(i) 32. Reg. §1.1361-1(m)(2)(i) 33. http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/taxation/taxiq-fall11-howell-smith-trusts-paper.authcheckdam.pdf 34. Regulation,§1.641(c)-1 35. Treas. Reg. §1.641 36. Treas. Reg. §1.641

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