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April 08, 2007 at 04:00 PM
For those who care about their estate planning and own life insurance to protect their families, 2007 is shaping up to be a pivotal year.
The reason: Based on the interplay between Sections 2035 and 2042 of the Internal Revenue Code, gifts of life insurance on the life of the donor are included in the estate of the donor for 3 years, starting from the date of the gift. If a person makes a gift of life insurance in 2007, the policy won’t be out of the estate until 2011.
The year 2011 is also important in estate planning because that’s when the estate tax “sunset provisions” of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 take effect. Barring an intervention by Congress, in 2011 top estate tax rates will go back up to 55% (60% for estates over $10 million) and exempt amounts at death will revert back to $1 million, as if EGTRRA never happened.
If the “sun sets” on estate tax reform, then for many individuals with estates valued over $1 million and couples with estates valued over $2 million, 2011 becomes the year in which they would want their insurance out of their estates. And if that’s the case, then the time to make the gift is now.
Each net worth figure across the top of the accompanying chart includes $1 million of life insurance, owned personally. A $5 million gross estate, for example, is actually a $4 million net worth plus $1 million of life insurance. The various estate tax scenarios that exist under current law are listed down the left side of the chart.
In any given year, one of these scenarios could be the law in effect when you die, even if that occurs many years from now. After all, it’s the estate tax law in effect when you die that counts. And no one knows (1) when death will occur or (2) which tax rate scenario will apply, so it’s good to look at multiple possibilities.
The chart also includes larger estate values because estates grow in value over a long period of time. And it’s important to know what the tax outcome for those estates would be under each of the tax scenarios. This allows you to plan the client’s estate as if the tax picture at their death looked like 2007, 2009, 2010 or 2011 (2008 is the same as 2007).
The decision to give away life insurance is important because an insured can derive tremendous personal benefits from owning life insurance. The cash values of the insurance, for example, grow tax-deferred and are generally protected from the claims of personal creditors.
With personally owned life insurance, cash values can be withdrawn up to premiums paid and/or borrowed without tax (unless the policy is a modified endowment contract) to supplement the insured’s retirement income. Generally, the death proceeds of life insurance are paid income tax free and are protected from the claims of personal creditors.
