Revocable Living Trusts – Common Misconceptions

A few days ago, I was explaining the concept of “funding” of trusts to some clients who were new to the world of estate planning and I was struck by the fact that what I had always thought were easy concepts to understand caused a lot of confusion to my clients and their understanding of how trusts operate. The two main areas of confusion appear to be in (1) figuring out exactly how trusts differ from wills and (2) the mechanics of how accounts are transferred into trusts causing trusts to become the new “owner” of those accounts. This article hopes to shed light on these two seemingly simple (or so I thought!) concepts – revocable living trusts and trust funding.

We’ve heard people use the word trusts in different settings and under different circumstances. Many people mistakenly believe that all trusts offer asset protection. However, not all trusts are made equal – trusts can either be living (i.e. inter-vivos trusts) or testamentary (i.e. those that become effective upon the death of an individual). All testamentary trusts are automatically irrevocable but living trusts can be either revocable or irrevocable. The person(s) setting up these trusts are interchangeably called Grantor(s), Trustor(s) or Settlor(s) of trusts.

Living trusts are typically stand-alone entities that become effective immediately upon the signing of the trust agreement. Those that are revocable are called Revocable Living Trusts or RLTs or Will substitutes. These RLTs allow a Grantor to set up the trust and retain full control of the trust assets by also being appointed as Trustee of the trusts. The Grantor can also enjoy the full benefits of the trust assets as a beneficiary. There are several benefits for setting up a RLT the most important one of which is that they are meant to avoid probate (i.e. court supervised process) upon death which is often considered to be ridden with hassle in some states. In contrast, Irrevocable Living Trusts are more difficult to be changed once set up. In this case, the Grantor transfers assets into an irrevocable trust by assignment, sale, gift or loan, then typically gives up control over the assets. The primary benefits of irrevocable trusts are that assets are removed from the Grantor’s estate upon his or her death thereby avoiding estate taxes; and these assets are protected from both the Grantor’s creditors as well as the creditors & predators of the beneficiaries. Properly designed trusts may even escape Medicaid recovery and preserve assets for the Grantor’s ultimate beneficiaries should the Grantor be receiving public benefits. Regardless of which irrevocable trust is used, these trusts are typically sophisticated planning techniques established as part of an individual or married couple’s advanced planning. They should always accompany a robust foundational plan complete with a Will and/or a RLT, a General Durable Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. For more information on the benefits of a RLT, check out our earlier posts on this subject1.

When it comes to “funding” trusts though, it is important to note that this term of art has to do with the act of transferring accounts into the trust or retitling assets into the name of the trusts and has nothing to do with refinancing or getting loans to trusts. The following visual imagery may help provide a better understanding how RLTs2 actually “receive” assets.

If you think of your trust as a cookie jar, then our firm would work with you to take your cookie jar from concept to design to set-up. Once you sign the trust agreement, your cookie jar is now ready to be filled with assets or ‘cookies’. And because your trust is like your alter-ego, it can do almost anything you can do. This means that if you have 5 bank accounts each at a different bank and you want to continue to bank at these 5 banks, then you can open 5 trust accounts at these banks. Our office would then provide you with the necessary documentation you need to present to your bank representative who will then open a new trust account and more often than not, it will have a new account number. Depending on the type of trust you are setting up (revocable or irrevocable), the account will either be associated to your social security number or have its own separate tax identification number or EIN# for income tax reporting going forward. This process of funding may involve several back and forth communications with institutions and can sometimes be challenging especially when a representative may be unfamiliar with trusts. This is when your choice of law firm become important so the firm can work with you and the representatives to see this process through to the end.

This article would not be considered complete if we did not address funding in connection with real property, businesses, and accounts with beneficiary designations. Here is a quick synopsis of how these assets are funded:

  • Real property must undergo a title change (i.e. the deed needs to reflect the new owner as the trust) in order for this to properly avoid probate. This deed must be recorded at the county clerk’s office just like any other deed. So long as the property is being transferred into a RLT, and the Grantor continues to reside in the property, a lender holding mortgage to the property cannot trigger the due on sale clause as the Grantor is protected by statute

  • Depending on how a business is structured (LLC, S Corp., C Corp.), a Grantor-owner’s interest could be assigned to the RLT

  • Accounts passing by beneficiary designations, typically retirement accounts, life insurance policies and/or brokerage and investment accounts with beneficiaries, must be amended to ensure the RLT (or its subtrusts for the various beneficiaries) is the primary beneficiary of these accounts.

While funding is a relatively straightforward process and may be handled the Grantor on his or her own, it is always better to do so under the guidance and counsel of the drafting attorney or let the drafting attorney’s office handle the funding process for an extra fee to ensure things get done correctly and time efficiently. Once all of the assets are either moved into the trust or named as a beneficiary of asset, then going forward, it becomes very easy to administer and manage these trusts because any new account that is opened or property purchased can be made directly by the trust.

2 Our focus in this article is mainly on addressing funding challenges with Revocable Living Trusts and only briefly discussed Irrevocable Living Trusts in passing.

What to Know if You Are the Executor

The executor of an estate has an important job. He or she has been entrusted to follow the wishes of the deceased, and it is important that the executor understands the expectations set in the will, understands the law in the presiding state, and is able to adhere to both as much as possible.

The executor has eight main tasks:

  1. Introduce the will into court for probate
  2. Notify the next of kin and the beneficiaries
  3. Locate all assets
  4. Identify all debts and obligations
  5. Pay the obligations in the order of priority
  6. Filing income and/or estate tax returns, where applicable
  7. Distribute the remainder to the beneficiaries
  8. Close the estate

How to Introduce the Will

Every county has a procedure for introducing the will into the local surrogate’s court.

Typically, the executor must provide the original will, an official death certificate, the required information about the deceased, the names and address of the next of kin and the beneficiaries, and the required identification information about the executor.

If the court accepts all the documents, then it will issue the Letters Testamentary and the Executor Short Certificates. This documentation establishes that the executor can act on behalf of the estate, and it will be needed when interacting with different fiduciaries or institutions on behalf of the estate.

Notify the Next of Kin and the Beneficiaries

Once the court accepts the will into probate, the executor must notify the next of kin and the beneficiaries. The executor must also make a copy of the will available to them upon request.

New Jersey requires that notice be sent through certified mail. New Jersey also has a time limit for notifying beneficiaries. The clock starts once the will has been accepted into probate.

An attorney can help make sure that the executor meets any statutory deadlines. An attorney can also help if a beneficiary’s address is unknown or cannot be found.

Once the necessary parties have been noticed, the executor must turn over to the court proof that the beneficiaries received proper notice and that they received the notice in time.

Locate all Assets

The executor must find all assets that the decedent owned. If these are probate assets, the executor must get control of them so they can be used to pay off the decedent’s debts. The rest can be distributed in accordance with the will.

Unless the decedent had prepared his or her estate planning documents through a specialized estate planning firm that prepared a comprehensive asset spreadsheet as part of the estate plan, it is hard to know what the decedent owned or how to get control of it. Moreover, the decedent could have lived in different states or countries having different assets in different places. Sometimes, the custodian of the property is not cooperative. An attorney can be helpful if you are having trouble locating the decedent’s assets or getting estate assets released.

Identify All Debts and Obligations

New Jersey has specific rules about the order of priority when it comes to paying the decedent’s debts. It is important that the executor pays the bills in the correct order because if the funds run out, and the executor paid lower priority bills before higher priority bills, the creditor could sue the executor for its loss.  Additionally, the executor has to be aware of whether or not federal or state death taxes are due from the estate and must review the will to see who (the estate or the individual beneficiaries) are responsible for payment.

In New Jersey, the costs of the administration are one of the higher priority bills, which includes any attorney’s fees and the executor’s commission. New Jersey also regulates how much the executor is allowed to be paid based on the size of the estate. If the estate is large or difficult to manage, it may make sense to hire an attorney to help with the administration and ensure that the proper procedures are followed.

Filing Income Tax Returns, Where Applicable

Depending on how long the estate will be kept open, the executor has a duty to report all income earned by the estate during this time. The deadline for this filing is based on either a calendar year or a fiscal year and must be reported on a Form 1041. NJ no longer has an estate tax, but if the worldwide assets of a decedent are greater than the exemption, or if the decedent was a NY resident with significant assets, then a federal estate tax return or NY state estate tax return may be due. Finally, where the estate assets are below the threshold, there may still be a need to file an estate tax return to elect portability.[1] In these cases, it is extremely important that the executor review the will carefully to see who can pay the taxes—the individual beneficiaries or the estate out of the residue.

Distributing the Remainder to the Beneficiaries

Once the bills have been paid, the executor is to distribute the rest of the assets in accordance with the will. Not all gifts to beneficiaries have the same priority. There is a difference between an equal distribution of estate residue to the children of the decedent and giving specific assets/bequests to specific beneficiaries.

It is important that the executor understands the difference and correctly distributes the assets, or else he or she can be held personally liable for any mistakes.

This is especially important when the executor is one of the beneficiaries. The executor has the ability to make decisions on behalf of the estate including liquidating assets and distributing the cash, he or she must act in accordance with the will. The executor cannot use his or her position to unfairly distribute assets or disadvantage another beneficiary. An attorney representing the estate can also act as a check to make sure the executor is not exceeding his or her authority. New Jersey also requires paperwork be completed before the distributions to the beneficiaries. This involves securing releases from all beneficiaries to avoid personal liability for the executor for nonpayment of taxes or for making distributions to beneficiaries with outstanding child support obligation subject to wage garnishment. An attorney can help prepare all of the needed forms and make sure everything is properly accounted for and signed.

Closing the Estate

Once the bills have been paid and the assets have been distributed, the executor should file any outstanding estate or inheritance tax paperwork, where applicable, and then close the estate by filing a final court filing.

Closing the estate is important because if the estate is left open, then the executor is still personally liable should any new creditors emerge or if any beneficiaries complain after accepting his or her share.

Final Remarks

An estate administration will take at least nine months from the decedent’s death until the estate can be closed. In some cases, the administration can take much longer, potentially years depending on the size of the estate, the number of beneficiaries involved, the location of the assets, or any complications that arise along the way (for example. if there is confusion as to ownership of any assets or if any provisions in the will are unclear).

An attorney can help the executor by ensuring the proper procedures are filed, that the required paperwork is completed and submitted, and by acting as a buffer between the executor and the next of kin, beneficiaries, or the fiduciaries and institutions involved. All of this can ultimately help save the executor time and stress during what will be a difficult situation.

 

 

 

[1] Portability refers to the act of taking over a deceased spouse’s unused exemption which is to be added to the surviving spouse’s exemption.

My aunt named me “POD” beneficiary of a bank account before she died, but the bank refuses to give me the money!

Decedent had a bank account in her own name worth $50K. She named her nephew as a “Payable On Death” or POD beneficiary of this account, unbeknownst to her spouse and children. He was her favorite nephew, who’d cared for her a lot during her lifetime, and she had hoped he could quietly liquidate the funds upon her death and use the funds to pay back some of his college fees.

Little did she know, this little act of love would cause so many adverse ramifications, and the series of events that unfolded next were nothing short of a nightmare for the poor nephew.

The nephew was dealt a nightmare because New Jersey imposes an inheritance tax for assets more than $500 passing to all non-Class A beneficiaries. The nephew in this case would be a Class D beneficiary, who would be required to pay a 15% tax on the amount passing to him, minus the $500 exemption.

Worse, the bank would put a freeze on the account until he was able to produce a waiver from the State of NJ Tax Branch, and the only way to secure this waiver would be if the Executor of the Estate (or Administrator, if there was no Will) files a NJ Inheritance Tax Return (ITR) with the Tax Branch reporting the distributions from the estate. All of this must be accomplished within eight months of the date of death. NOTE: There is a blanket waiver that allows the nephew to receive 50% of the assets in the account (i.e. $25K) immediately, but he would have to wait for the balance after the estate administration was completed and final waivers issued.

Had the aunt consulted with an estate planning attorney before her death, she would have learned that gifting during her lifetime would have no gift tax ramifications in New Jersey (NJ does not have a gift tax), and apart for a minor reporting requirement on a Form 709 to report gifts over $15K per year, she could have effectively transferred the funds over to her nephew achieving the very objective she was trying to accomplish. Better even, if she had paid the college directly with the amount, it would not have been deemed a gift at all.

It is critical to consult with an attorney before making significant decisions to ensure that these choices do not morph out of control and cause unintended consequences that could have easily been avoided.