Standard estate planning strategies don’t fit every situation. Single people, unmarried couples, noncitizen spouses, individuals planning a second marriage, and grandparents are among those who might benefit from less common techniques. In this section, we look at several special situations and estate planning ideas that may apply to them.
Singles – the potential repeal of the estate tax is especially helpful to this group because it eliminates the disadvantage of not having the unlimited marital deduction, which allows a spouse to leave assets to a surviving spouse’s estate tax free. But a will or a living trust can ensure that your loved ones receive your legacy in the manner you desire. In addition, with the use of trusts, you can provide financial management assistance to your heirs who are not prepared for this responsibility.
Second Marriages – estate planning for the second marriage can be complicated, especially when children from a prior marriage are involved. Finding the right planning technique for your situation can not only ease family tensions but also help you pass more assets to the children at a lower tax cost.
A Qualified Terminal Interest Property (QTIP) marital trust can maximize estate tax deferral while benefiting the surviving spouse for his or her lifetime and the children after the spouse’s death. Combining a QTIP with life insurance benefiting the children or creatively using joint gifts or GST tax exemptions can further leverage your gifting ability.
A prenuptial agreement can also help you achieve your estate planning goals. But any of these strategies must be tailored to your particular situation, and the help of qualified financial, tax and legal advisors is essential.
Unmarried Couples – because unmarried couples are not automatically granted rights by law, they need to create a legal relationship with a domestic partnership agreement. Such a contract can solidify the couple’s handling of estate planning issues. In addition, without the benefit of the marital deduction, unmarried couples face a potentially overwhelming estate tax burden as long as the estate tax is in effect.
There are solutions, however. One partner can reduce his or her estate and ultimate tax burden through a traditional annual gifting program or by creating an irrevocable life insurance trust or a charitable remainder trust benefiting the other partner. Again, these strategies are complex and require the advice of financial, tax and legal professionals.
Noncitizen Spouses – the marital deduction differs for a surviving spouse who is a non-U.S. citizen. The government is concerned that on your death, your spouse could take the marital bequest tax-free and then leave U.S. jurisdiction without the property ever being taxed.
Thus, the marital deduction is allowed only if the assets are transferred to a qualified domestic trust (QDOT) that meets special requirements. The impact of the marital deduction is dramatically different because any principal distributions from a QDOT to the noncitizen spouse and assets remaining in the QDOT at his or her death will be taxed as if they were in the citizen spouse’s estate. Also note that the gift tax marital deduction is limited to a set amount annually.
