How can I avoid estate tax?

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asked Aug 24, 2023 in Real Estate - Renting by 3hoursfrom (540 points)
How can I avoid estate tax?

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answered Aug 26, 2023 by Gingerzebell (18,940 points)
Some ways you can avoid estate tax are to use Trusts or shelter the assets from estate taxes by taking the assets out of your estate by transferring them to someone else.

You can also give money to people while you still can, set up an irrevocable life insurance trust, setup a charitable trust or setup a family limited partnership or a foundation.

To avoid estate tax you can assign a portion of your wealth to charitable trusts of two types: lead trusts and remainder trusts.

Your estate, such as investments, hard assets, and even cash, can be allocated to a trust in the form of charitable donations.

Most billionaires and ultra-rich people will use this strategy for tax planning.

If you don't pay estate tax then the IRS will start charging penalties and also eventually put a federal lien against the estate.

Then eventually the IRS will seize the estate to pay back any of the estate taxes that are owed and unpaid.

The difference between inheritance tax and estate tax is the estate tax is the tax that is levied on the estate of the deceased while the inheritance tax is a tax that is levied on the heirs of the deceased.

The amount of estate tax you will pay depends on the state you're located in and where the assets are.

Estate tax ranges from 18% to as much as 40%.

Estate and inheritance taxes are taxes levied on the transfer of property at death.

An estate tax is levied on the estate of the deceased while an inheritance tax is levied on the heirs of the deceased.

12 states have estate tax which include Connecticut, District Of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

In addition to the federal government, 12 states tax the estate of the deceased.

Six states have "inheritance taxes" levied on the person who receives money or property from the estate of the deceased.

The estate tax is a tax that that is a payable tax on your right to transfer property at your death.

The estate tax consists of an accounting of everything and anything you own or have interest in at the date of your death.

The Federal and state estate taxes are paid for from the assets of your estate before any remaining assets can be distributed to the dead persons heirs.

The executor or the trustee of a qualified grantor trust is the one responsible for filing the applicable federal and state estate tax returns and for ensuring that all the estate taxes are paid from the estate.

Estate Tax is a federal tax that is taxed on the transfer of the estate of a person who dies.

Estate Tax applies to property that is transferred by will or, if the person has no will, according to state laws of intestacy.

The estate tax is calculated by adding together the decedent's taxable estate (the gross estate less allowable deductions) and the decedent's adjusted taxable gifts to determine the estate tax base.

Some ways to avoid inheritance tax on your parents house are to have your parents do the following.

Start giving gifts now.
Write a will.
Use the alternate valuation date.
Put everything into a trust.
Take out a life insurance policy.
Set up a family limited partnership.
Move to a state that doesn't have an estate or inheritance tax.
Donate to charity.

There is normally no IHT to pay if you pass on a home, move out and live in another property for seven years.

You need to pay the market rent and your share of the bills if you want to carry on living in it, otherwise you will be treated as the beneficial owner and it will remain as part of your estate.

The 7 year rule in inheritance tax is when after 7 years, the gift doesn’t count towards the overall value of your estate.

This is known as the 7 year gift rule in inheritance tax.

Basically when it comes to the 7 year rule in inheritance tax there are a range of gifts that are exempt from inheritance tax.

Everything else is defined as either a chargeable lifetime transfer (CLT), which is for gifts into a discretionary trust that may be subject to an immediate 20% IHT charge (if paid by the trust, or 25% if paid by the settlor), or a potentially exempt transfer (PET) where the gift will only be completely tax-free if you live for 7 years after gifting it (assuming that the gift has been given to an individual, rather than a business or trust).

If you die within 7 years of gifting the asset, then the gift will count towards your nil-rate band, as was mentioned above, meaning that it may still be subject to IHT.

An inheritance tax is a state tax that you pay when you receive money or property from the estate of a deceased person.

Unlike the federal estate tax, the beneficiary of the property is responsible for paying the tax, not the estate.

Putting a house in trust means that when the owner of the house dies or becomes too ill and needs to be put into a nursing home then the house transfers to the person that they put the house into trust for.

For example if your parents signed you as a name on the house when it was put into trust then the house ownership would transfer to you upon your parents death.

Or when they go into a nursing home.

Then you can either sell the house or keep the house.

Trust property refers to the assets placed into a trust, which are controlled by the trustee on behalf of the trustor's beneficiaries.

Estate planning allows for trust property to pass directly to the designated beneficiaries upon the trustor's death without probate.

A trust is a legal entity that allows property to be passed from the person who created the trust (the grantor) to the person they want to pass their property to (the beneficiary).

Trustee –this is the person who owns the assets in the trust.

They have the same powers a person would have to buy, sell and invest their own property.

It's the trustee's job to run the trust and manage the trust property responsibly.

Beneficiary – this is the person who the trust is set up for.

Even with a mortgage on the home you may always place your home, even while there is a mortgage on it, in a revocable living trust.

Remember that a revocable living trust is an estate planning tool.

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