Re: Estate Taxes

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006, "Jerry Okamura" <okamuraj005@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

I thought that perhaps (but I was apparently wrong)
that there are ways to avoid the payment of estate
taxes....but I am still not absolutely sure, that there
are not ways to avoid the payment of estate taxes.

There often are potentially many ( lawful * ) ways to avoid paying
otherwise payable estate taxes, depending on the _specifics_ of the
nature and value of the relevant persons' reasonably
expected/forseeable income and other assets during life and (as they
probably would be but for and also as a result of careful estate
planning) at death (after also of course taking into account the
individual's desires re. proposed beneficiaries also in terms of their
age and nature in other respects).

But, as you put it earlier in this thread, just "simply" placing one's
(presumably: otherwise estate taxable) assets into trust generally is
not (actually, often is very far from) the way to achieve this (again:
assuming that there would probably be a taxable estate in other
respects even after one takes into account a variety of credits, not
least including the federal Unifed Tax Credit, the availability for
legally married spouses of a spousal tax sheltering trusts; etc.,
etc.)

You said earlier that you have been advised by knowledgeable
professionals that, if one takes into account your and your wife's
present and probable future income/assets, in your (particular)
instance, a trust of whatever kind you had created for the two of you
would insulate your estates from estate taxes; and I presume that you
were advised correctly and acted accordingly in these respects (for
you and your wife).

But what you might consider (as you earlier put it) "a whole lot of
assets" (assuming that is what you think you have) may not be that for
estate taxation or other purposes, if considered by others, and it was
your apparently related but incorrect assumption that you could just
(as you also put it: "simply") willy-nilly extrapolate what may be
suitable for you and your wife as if applicable to all others with "a
whole lot of assets" is what triggered my earlier comments in this
thread.

------------------------------

* My earlier comments also did not presume that
that you have behaved or would behave in unlawful
ways, although some persons do.



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Inheritance tax
    ... solicitor or accountant in order to minimise it or avoid it altogether. ... beneficiary of an estate that hasn't been planned to avoid tax. ... of hundred grand tax-free plus some more on which I'll have to pay tax. ... [and for them not to die prematurely]. ...
    (uk.politics.misc)
  • Re: inheritance taxes/US
    ... around and avoid the estate tax altogether. ... allowing all estate value to transfer "transparently". ... money to do this. ... The estate tax does not accomplish it's supposed goal of limiting ...
    (misc.rural)
  • Re: Estate Taxes
    ... that there are not ways to avoid the payment of estate taxes. ... enjoy the property or the income therefrom. ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Estate Taxes
    ... There is really no way to avoid the Estate Tax. ... "gift", for gift tax purposes.. ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Estate Taxes
    ... would think that any person with a whole lot of assets can avoid the estate ... If your estate is going to your spouse, there isn't any estate tax. ...
    (soc.retirement)