ESTATE PLANNING FOR ESTATES 10 MILLION AND LESS, ALL THINGS TAXES FROM JOINT REVOCABLE TRUSTS TO IRREVOCABLE INCOME ONLY TRUSTS

Discussion Leader: Todd E. Lutsky, Esq., LL.M – Cushing & Dolan, PC
Date: Friday, September 29, 2023 – 1:00pm –  4:30pm
Location: Zoom Live Video Conference

The seminar will discuss estate tax and gift tax planning using Joint Revocable trust and Irrevocable income only trusts.  Topics to be discussed include:

• How to shelter assets for estates with large IRAs
• How to draft remainder shares and QTIP shares to shelter estate taxes
• How to get a step up in basis
• How to use the claw back rule
• How portability operates
• How to protect assets from nursing homes by using testamentary trusts to shelter assets for estate taxes
• How the sale of a home from the trust operates if there is a life estate
• How to prepare form 1041 tax return for Irrevocable Trusts

CPE Credit Hours: 4

Registration Form:  Fall 2023 CPE Registration Form.1

The Foundation for Continuing Education Medicaid Planning Update – 2023 What’s New with Medicaid and What Needs to be Reviewed

Tuesday, October 24^th

To Register, contact Rick Solano at 978-468-6528 or click the link below.

Register Now

From last minute Medicaid eligibility tips for the unplanned to drafting and taxation of irrevocable income only trusts and testamentary trusts for the advanced planner.

Description:

Last Minute Medicaid Techniques: Come Learn How:

• To protect the primary residence for married and single folks;
• To make countable rental property non-countable;
• To make countable vacation property non-countable;
• To protect life insurance policies (whole life vs term life);
• To protect excess resources through Medicaid annuities and pooled trusts with a full discussion of the recently decided SJC decision in the Dermody case regarding annuities;
• To differentiate countable vs non-countable assets;
• To deal with the caretaker child exception, related rules, and recent fair hearing decisions regarding the same;
• Medicaid liens operate and how they can actually be a good thing;
• The five year lookback period operates and related exceptions to it vs the penalty period;
• Special needs trusts and sole benefit trusts operate
• To get a family worth $2 million eligible for Medicaid last minute when one spouse gets sick.

Drafting and Taxation of Irrevocable Income Only Trusts: Come Learn

• How to draft irrevocable trusts to withstand MassHealth scrutiny;
• Frequent arguments made by MassHealth;
• How the Hirvi settlement is helping to support irrevocable trusts, administrative consistency, and due process;
• How eligibility operations memo 20-04 is helping practitioners to better draft trusts and how it operates;
• How the Fournier v. Sudders case reads and its benefit to drafting these irrevocable trusts
• About other recent fair hearing decisions;
• How the limited power of appointment operates;
• The grantor trust rules for income tax purposes;
• How 26 U.S.C §1014(a) and step up in basis works with these trusts;
• Gift tax consequences of these trusts 26 CFR § 25.2511(c)
• Estate tax consequences of these trusts including drafting of the marital and remainder shares to both protect assets and shelter for estate taxes;
• About eligibility operations memo 19-12 re-defining calculation of life estate and remainder values and the Medicaid and income tax consequences (planning pointer and operation memo is currently being drafted to fix this problem and we’ll discuss it);

Testamentary Trusts, IRAs, and Life Insurance:

• How trust and transfer rules apply to testamentary trusts, how to draft them, and how they operate;
• Estate tax benefits of naming estate as the designated beneficiary of an IRA coupled with a testamentary trust;
• Income tax benefits of naming estate as the designated beneficiary of an IRA vs naming the surviving spouse
• To calculate the RMDs after naming the estate as the designated beneficiary under the Secure Act vs surviving spouse;
• The Medicaid benefits and protections from naming the estate as the designated beneficiary of the IRA
• The estate tax and Medicaid benefits of naming the estate as the designated beneficiary of a life insurance policy.

Live Conference

Date: TUESDAY, October 17, 2023

Time: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Location: Marriott Residence Inn in Natick

Address: 1 Superior Drive Natick, MA

Speakers

Todd E. Lutsky, Esq., LL.M., Cushing & Dolan, P.C., Waltham

Thomas J. McKinnon, Esq., Cushing & Dolan, P.C.

• CPE Credits: 4

The Art & Science of Stacking Trusts

Learn about the types and combination of trusts to meet your clients’ goals

Clients often have more than one objective when establishing a trust in estate planning. Learn how to use different types of trusts to achieve distinct, simultaneous goals.

Agenda

• The Use of Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts to Minimize Estate Taxes
• Well-drafted trusts give individuals the opportunity to minimize estate taxes at their death and leave the most amount of wealth to their chosen beneficiaries, instead of the IRS or Mass. Dept. of Revenue. Learn about the combined use of formula clauses in revocable trusts and standalone irrevocable trusts to minimize the imposition of federal and Massachusetts estate tax. The faculty discuss the variety of irrevocable trusts that are available to reduce such taxes and fulfill donative intent.
• The Use of Trusts to Provide for Special Needs and Disability Planning
• Properly structured special needs trusts allow an individual with a disability to benefit from trust assets while remaining eligible for public assistance disability benefits. Learn about the types of special needs trusts and the required elements of self-settled special needs trust, third party special needs trusts, and pooled trusts, as well as recommended provisions for all revocable trusts.
• Stacking Medicaid Irrevocable Trusts with Testamentary Trusts for Asset Protection and Estate Planning Purposes  
• Learn how to draft Medicaid trusts to protect assets from the nursing home along with the income, estate, and gift taxes associated with these trusts. Understand how the Secure Act 2.0 allows you to name the estate as the designated beneficiary of your IRA, coupled with a testamentary trust, to provide enhanced Medicaid protection of the IRA and increased estate tax benefits all while not causing adverse required minimum distributions or income tax consequences.
• Stacking a Purpose Trust on Top of an Asset Protection Trust
• Understand the unique features of Purpose Trusts and Asset Protection Trusts—and why a Purpose Trust is the icing on the asset protection cake.
• “Ask the Experts” Q&A Session

Faculty

Jennifer T. Fleming, Esq., Prince Lobel Tye LLP, Boston, Chair

Alexander A. Bove, Jr., Esq., Bove & Langa, PC, Boston

Kristin N.G. Dzialo, Esq., Rubin and Rudman LLP, Boston

Jennifer Z. Flanagan, Esq., Mirick O’Connell, Worcester

Melissa Langa, Esq., Bove & Langa, PC, Boston

Todd E. Lutsky, Esq., LL.M, Cushing & Dolan, PC, Waltham

Katelyn Versiackas, Esq., Prince Lobel Tye LLP, Boston