By Pieter Kark and Ken Yap
While asleep, Ginny dreamt many dreams, but the one she remembered when she awoke was a strange one: It was about life insurance. Wait No It was actually about leaving her home, savings and self-storage business to her daughter and granddaughter, and her fear the IRS would take too much of everything.
The storage business Ginny had started with a partner was beginning to grow faster and bigger than either had expected. Just a few months before, her daughter had given birth to a long-awaited granddaughter, the apple of Ginnys eye. Fortunately, Ginny had lived long enough and traveled far enough to know that if she didnt have a will and estate in good financial order, the financial success she worked so hard to achieve might never make it into little Cassies hands.
The nightmarish part of Ginnys dream was not the fact of her demise, but the possibility that the IRS might take so much of her estate there would be nothing left. Also, though she had life insurance to offset the estate taxes, it wasnt enough to cover the widening expanse of the business. In reality, even at its present rate of growth, the storage facility could break more than a million and a quarter in revenue in a couple of years, maybe sooner. If life insurance pushed her worth above a million and a half, the IRS might take 40 to 50 percent.
Ginny woke in a cold sweat and called her financial advisor, who told her the answer was simple: They would purchase some life insurance now and look at the business projections. Then they would set up an irrevocable trust that would buy her life insurance once her business and estate were big enough to make it worthwhile to do so.
Irrevocable, asked Ginny, as in I cant change it?
Thats why we need to talk in detail, said her advisor, insisting he would give her materials to consider in building a good estate plan.
As it turns out, the final trust for the life insurance has to be irrevocable, but doesnt have to tie up all of Ginnys resources. If the insurance is enough to handle her estate taxes and other expenses, the IRS wont include it when it adds up her estate. Of course, shell need to put in gifts of cash each year so the trustee can pay the premiums, but Ginny can pay for that from the profits of her business.
In addition, if Ginny leaves clear instructions, the trustee will pay the IRS and any other necessities out of the trust, and her family can inherit the estate without having to sell it for taxes. Ginny doesnt need the trust right now, but shell need to have it in place when her storage business approaches the right size. Meanwhile, she has time to think things through and make a wise set of plans. No more nightmares!
If Ginnys story sounds familiar, perhaps you should consider whether to trust or not to trust your estate plan with life insurance. And as with any important financial decision, consult a reputable advisor.
