Re: how to compare living standards


"William F Hummel" <wfhummel@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:9mkt32lcf9k1imurtsnjncfl7kcrhlvaf6@xxxxxxxxxx
On Thu, 13 Apr 2006 15:17:13 -0500, "Jim Blair" <jeb@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

"tonyp" <tonyp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1P2dnZvgYMKxQKfZRVn-gw@xxxxxxxxxx

1) The difference between "trustee" and "beneficiary". Jim seemed to
conflate the two.

Sorry. I know they are different. But for the trusts that I know about
they are mostly the same people.

Trustee and trustor are usually the same people, but the beneficiary
is never the same as the trustee. Typically the beneficiaries of
living trust are the children of the trustee/trustor.

Hi,

Sorry for the sloppy way I sai that. The money passed from parents to
children to grand children, bypassing both probate and Uncle Sam.
Individuals were variously trustees or beneficaries but not both at the same
time.


2) The unified lifetime gift-and-estate tax exemption. There is an
intimate
tie between the gift tax and the estate tax, as both tax lawyers and
the
IRS
understand.

-- TP


??? This I don't understand. If I leave my estate to my kids, do I need
to
deduct from the exemption limit all of the allowance I gave the kids?
Are
there any records kept of money that I give to anyone, including my own
kids? (I mean money under the annual limit that would draw a tax)

The exemption limit on the Federal estate tax is reduced by the total
amount of taxable gifts a donor gives during his lifetime, assuming
you apply the gift tax credit rather than paying the tax. You must
file a Form 709 to report any taxable gift for each year that a
taxable gift is made, and either pay the tax or apply the credit.

You do not have to file a report on gifts of $12,000 per year or less.
There is no tax on such gifts, and they can be made to any number of
individuals, but no individual can receive more than $12,000 during a
single year. Otherwise the excess is considered a taxable gift and
must be reported.


For a rich couple, multiply your limits by 2. If they want to keep the
wealth in the family, each can give each of their children and grandchildren
that $12K each year. Plus they can also pay off their kids student loans
and the school tuition of their grand children, or so I read in a newsletter
from an estate planner. That would imply that the $12K tax free each
individual can receive is from one individual, or 24K from both parents,
plus the tution payments.

Maybe this is one reason that the government take of inter-generational
wealth transfer is so low?



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