Family Gifting Trust

A Family Gifting Trust gives you the ability to shelter wealth over multiple generations, while providing tax avoidance and offering several ways to distribute your wealth.

The trust protects your assets from the ever-changing estate and gift tax laws. It also protects your wealth from risks created by your divorce, actions taken against your will by in-laws, an heir's divorce, or a deceased heir's spouse who elects to take action against the heir's will.

Annual Gifting

The Family Gifting Trust takes advantage of annual gifting tax laws to distribute your wealth among many family members during your lifetime. The IRS allows you to gift to as many individuals as you choose annually with $11,000 ($22,000, if you are married), without imposing the gift tax. This means that you may begin distributing your wealth without being taxed on the gifts during your lifetime. If you are concerned with financial security, you may make the spouse with the longest life expectancy the primary beneficiary and one of the recipients of the annual $11,000 tax-free gifts. As primary beneficiary, the spouse continues to receive the annual gift until his or her death, after which the proceeds are distributed to your family heirs.

After your death, the trust distributes your wealth on a preferential basis to beneficiary groups. The trust is provisioned to distribute assets upon your death to your children first and then to your grandchildren. If a child dies before you and has no children, for example, then his share of your estate is divided among your remaining children. If a child dies before you and has children, then her share of your estate is divided among her children - your grandchildren.

« Return to Estate Tools