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Julius Giarmarco, Esq.
Member Since: 18th March 2010
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No of Articles: 26
About Me:
Legal

Beneficiary-Controlled Trusts

19th May 2010
Estate planners use trusts to protect beneficiaries from their inability, their disability, their creditors and their predators. Included under "creditors" are the IRS and divorced spouses. Most traditional trusts distribute the assets when the beneficiar...
Business Law

An Alternative to a Buy-Sell Agreement

01st April 2010
The advantages of a buy-sell agreement are well known to owners of closely-held businesses and their advisors. First, a buy-sell agreement creates a "market" for what would otherwise be an unmarketable asset. Second, a buy-sell agreement assures...
Business Law

Using Life Insurance in Business Succession Planning

26th March 2010
Life insurance can play an important role in a business succession plan. Following are some of the common ways in which life insurance can be integrated with many of the tools, techniques, and strategies commonly used in business succession planning. ...
Estate Planning

Switching Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts

26th March 2010
Irrevocable life insurance trusts ("ILITs") are commonly used to keep insurance proceeds outside the estates of the grantor-insured, the grantor's spouse, and the grantor's descendants (if a generation-skipping trust is used). As the name indica...
Estate Planning

Planning Opportunities with Partnership-Owned Life Insurance

26th March 2010
In Estate of Knipp v Commissioner, 25 T.C. 153 (1955), the decedent was a 50% partner in a general partnership that was owner and beneficiary of 10 life insurance policies on his life. The policies were purchased for business purposes. The court ruled tha...
Trusts

Intentionally Defective Beneficiary Trusts

26th March 2010
The benefits of an intentionally defective grantor trust (“IDGT”) are well known. First, the grantor’s payment of the trust’s income taxes is essentially a tax-free gift to the beneficiaries of the trust. Rev. Rul. 2004-64. Thus, the assets in the trust g...
Estate Planning

Gifting of LLC / FLP Interests to Family Members - Timing is Everything

26th March 2010
The IRS has never liked valuation discounts (for lack of control and marketability) and has attempted to attack gifts of limited liability company (LLC) and family limited partnership (FLP) interests under several theories over the years and with varying ...
Estate Planning

Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts

25th March 2010
A “Crummey” Trust is a popular device used in making gifts that qualify for the $13,000/ $26,000 annual exclusion from gift tax. Most other forms of gifts that qualify for the annual exclusion require an immediate or at least a very early (i.e...
Estate Planning

Using Trusts to Protect Heirs

25th March 2010
Estate planners use trusts to protect beneficiaries from their inability, their disability, their creditors and their predators. Included under "creditors" are the IRS and divorced spouses. More sophisticated estate planners generally create multi-generat...
Trusts

Trust-Owned Annuities

25th March 2010
IRC Section 72 governs the income taxation of annuity contracts. IRC Section 72(u)(1) taxes the income on an annuity contract owned by a “non-natural” person by treating it as though it was received by the non-natural owner. If, however, a non...
Estate Planning

Top 10 Uses of Life Insurance in a Family Business Succession Plan

25th March 2010
A key part of estate planning for business owners who want to keep their business in the family is deciding when and to whom to transfer the business. The particular tools and techniques used in a business succession plan will vary based on the goals and ...
Trusts

Qualified Personal Residence Trusts

25th March 2010
A Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT) is an excellent tool for persons with large estates to transfer a principal residence or vacation home at the lowest possible gift tax value. The general rule is that if a person makes a gift of property in whic...
Estate Planning

Private Annuities and Self-Canceling Installment Notes

25th March 2010
Private annuities and self-canceling installment notes (“SCINs”) are both effective wealth transfer planning techniques. There is a present lapse in the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes, but it’s likely that Congress will re...
Estate Planning

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans for Family Businesses

25th March 2010
Broadly defined, a nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plan is a contractual agreement in which an employer agrees to pay an employee later for services rendered currently. The NQDC benefits typically commence upon the employee’s retirement (a...
Estate Planning

Installment Sales to Grantor Trusts

25th March 2010
An installment sale to a "grantor trust" can provide valuable income, gift and estate tax benefits. If the assets sold produce a total return (income and appreciation) in excess of the interest rate on the note, substantial wealth can be removed from the ...
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