Identity thieves are adept at "ghosting" your deceased love ones by stealing their personal information and using it to perpetrate fraud. Identity thieves use this information, for example, to open new accounts, commit health care fraud, obtain tax refunds. This short briefly explains how to prevent ghosting of your loved one after a death.

What is a Private Foundation or Private Family Foundation, and why do so many families seem to have them? This video explores those questions by considering the advantages of Private Foundations, along with some of their downsides as well as the basics to establishing a Private Foundation. Private Foundations are a type of 501(c)(3) non-profit organization funded by an individual, family, or business. Family Foundation is a term used to indicate a Private Foundation established by a family as a potentially perpetual charitable legacy. Together, Private Foundations hold over $800 billion in U.S. assets and distribute billions to charities throughout the world every year. Private Foundations offer significant IRS-approved tax benefits. Contributions to Private Foundations are tax deductible, although the deductions are limited to a percentage of the donors' Adjusted Gross Income or AGI. Donors can give appreciated assets, thereby avoiding capital gains taxes. Assets within Private Foundations grow income-tax free, although they are subject to an excise tax. Donors can structure Private Foundations so they maintain considerable control over the Foundation's investments, direction, and charitable distributions. Donors can also provide that their family members will serve on the board of directors for Private Foundations. Donors and their family members can also work for their Private Foundations, as long as their salaries are reasonable and their services are reasonable and necessary to the Foundation. Private Foundations have some downsides. Despite their name, Private Foundations are not private. For those concerned mainly with tax deductions, higher deductions are available by giving to Public Charities or Donor Advised Funds. Finally, the administrative costs for establishing and maintaining a Private Foundation can be considerable. Nonetheless, the investment is worthwhile for those who have the means and the desire to establish a lasting legacy of charitable giving.

Watch out for those who promote an irrevocable trust that allegedly avoids federal income tax. Its promoters have called this, among other things, a Complex Trust, a Pure Trust, and a Non-Grantor Irrevocable Complex Discretionary Spendthrift Trust. Be careful! This type of tax-avoidance scheme has landed people in federal prison.

Married couples use Qualified Terminable Interest Property Trusts or QTIP Trusts to avoid estate taxes by using the estate tax exemption and the unlimited marital deduction. QTIP Trusts also provide for the survivor after one spouse passes while protecting assets for other beneficiaries after the second spouse passes. This video explains the uses of QTIP Trusts and their implications on income tax and estate tax.

This video explains the basic concepts behind Charitable Remainder Trusts or CRTs. Donors or grantors with charitable intentions use CRTs to support their favorite charities. At they same time, they gain immense income tax and capital gains tax advantages. Donors also exchange their gifts to the CRT for a stream of income that may last up to 20 years or for the lives of the noncharitable beneficiaries. Larger charities will establish and maintain donors Charitable Remainder Trusts for them. This video addresses what the donors exchange for that convenience.

This video discusses the two types of charitable remainder trusts widely used for planned charitable giving, namely, the Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust or CRAT and the Charitable Remainder Unitrust or CRUT. Each type can help donors support their favorite charities, reap tax benefits, and donations for income streams.

Planned giving can involve charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, family foundations, charitable gift annuities, business entities, income tax, capital gains tax, gift tax, estate tax, and more. But at its core, planned giving serves two purposes: reduction of taxes and trading of gifts for income.

This short explains the unlimited marital deduction, which allows spouses who are U.S. citizens to transfer any amount of assets to one another in life or at death gift tax and estate tax free.

The unified tax credit has gone up for 2024 to $13,610,000. This is an incredible opportunity for high-net-worth families to transfer wealth gift tax and estate tax free. Use it or lose it! This unified credit amount will go up again in 2025, but it will be cut in half in 2026.

Crummey Trusts offer an excellent tool for passing on wealth without gift or estate taxes. Grandparents can use Crummey Trusts to pass on wealth with generation skipping transfer taxes (GSTTs). This video discusses the use of Crummey Trusts in Estate Planning, their tax consequences, and their requirements. They’re not crummy, and they’re definitely not crumby!