Estate Planning With Selected Issues

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

Chapter 1

• Identify basic estate planning elements, recognizing the importance of well-drafted legal documents and specify the key team participants, including their roles in the estate planning process.
• Determine the estate tax techniques that save death taxes while retaining maximum control, and identify estate-planning facts.

Chapter 2

• Identify potential death taxes, including federal estate tax, as they apply to various size estates and persons, and determine what constitutes a taxable estate under §2501, specifying what assets are included in or excluded from a gross estate.
• Specify allowable estate deductions, recognizing their tax advantages and disadvantages, and determine the value of a decedent’s assets using permitted elections, recognize the use of Form 706 to pay any estate tax due, and select the tax basis and holding periods of estate assets.
• Recall the advantages of gift planning, including estate reduction, recognizing the impact of the GST, specify the steps to compute gift tax, identifying the gift tax exclusion amount, and determine the value of gifts, including those that are split.
• Identify the various gift tax exclusions and specify the tax treatment of medical expenses or school tuition.

Chapter 3

• Specify types of wills, citing the functions a will can perform and recall ways to hold title and their probate and estate tax ramifications.
• Identify the advantages of a properly drafted will and specify the pros and cons of probate proceedings.

Chapter 4

• Identify the relationship of parties in a trust, specifying their planning relationship, reasons to establish a trust, and types of trusts.
• Recognize the application gift and income tax in trust taxation and specify recommended trust provisions such as a “pour over” clause, retained income provisions, and a termination clause.

Chapter 5

• Identify tax and legal title formats listing differences, specify the advantages and disadvantages of holding property in these entities, and recall the use of retirement plans and custodianships.

chapter 6

• Recognize the function of life insurance, its funding with low-cost dollars, taxation, and the purchase for value rule, identify the tax treatment of life insurance proceeds, select variables that influence whether life insurance is estate taxable purposes, recalling the gift tax associated with the transfer of life insurance policies.
• Specify the pros and cons of various types of life insurance policies, including the use of an insurance trust, determine the differences between deferred and private annuities, and recognize the types of buy-sell agreements, identifying their tax and legal advantages.
• Determine the advantages of a stock redemption, being careful to avoid family attribution and recognize the importance of valuing closely held business interests.

Chapter 7

• Identify fair market value for purposes of business evaluation and recall the factors in R.R. 59-60 specifying their impact.
• Determine how tangible assets are valued, identifying the use of book value, specify the steps in R.R. 68-609’s valuation formula for intangible assets, and recognize the purpose and use of buy-sell agreements.
• Identify special business valuation issues, including redemptions under §303 and §302 during lifetime and at death.

Chapter 8

• Determine transactions to which Chapter 14 rules apply and the terminology used in the Chapter 14 valuation rule that applies to business interests.
• Identify the “zero value” rule, recognizing its impact on estate and gift taxes, application of ownership attribution, and the qualified payment exception.
• Specify when transfer tax and value adjustments will be made to transfers, determine the stepped computation under the subtraction method to the gift resulting from a transfer, and identify lapses or restrictions that qualify as an applicable restriction.

Chapter 9

• Identify estate management techniques for the elderly and disabled, including probate avoidance, joint tenancy, conservatorship, and powers of attorney.
• Cite the eldercare benefits of Medicare, Medicaid, and Supplemental Security Income, recognize the use of private insurance for catastrophic illness, and identify tools that can allow patients to make healthcare decisions.

Chapter 10

• Determine post-mortem estate planning action, including elections and disclaimers, and cite the requirements of post-mortem federal forms.
• Determine the processes and procedures necessary in the preparation and filing of Form 706.
• Identify the filing requirements for estate income tax and decedent’s final income tax returns, determine the total income to be included on the decedent’s final income tax return using available exemptions or deductions.
• Identify how to avoid penalties when filing a gift tax return, and recognize special gift applications and traps, stating ways to avoid their tax consequences.