Gifting to individuals

The lawyers at the Yanowitz Law Firm regularly counsel families on the best way to make gifts to family members. We advise families on how to pay for college using tax favorable techniques. Additionally, we help our clients make gifts to minors and disabled individuals without court involvement. Finally, we assist our clients in passing significant wealth to the next generation. Our firm is knowledgeable about the rules surrounding gift tax and the generation skipping tax. We can advise clients on whether they would need to file a gift tax return and how to avoid paying the gift and generation skipping tax. As a result, we can structure these gifts so that in the event of divorce, lawsuits or bankruptcy it is harder for a third party to take a gift away from a family member.

Some of the areas we frequently advise clients on are:

Gifts to Minors

• 529 plans: accounts that minimize tax that are used to pay for education
• Health, education and support trusts
• Uniform Transfer to Minors Act

Gifts to Disabled Individuals

• Supplemental needs trusts
• Special needs trusts
• Able accounts: accounts which minimize taxes for disabled individuals

Irrevocable Trust Gifting

• Long term asset protection (frequently called Dynasty Trusts) for descendants
• Grantor retained annuity trusts (commonly referred to as a “GRAT”) to transfer property without significant gift tax consequences
• Irrevocable life insurance trusts (commonly referred to as an “ILIT”) to avoid estate tax and protect life insurance proceeds from predators and creditors
• Spousal lifetime access trusts (commonly referred to as a “SLAT”) to provide spouses support during their lifetimes and reduce taxes
• Pet trusts to provide for the lifetime support of pets after the death of a pet owner