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Credit-Shelter Trusts (sometimes called "Bypass Trusts") are a common feature in married estate plans when estate taxation is a concern.  While we cover credit-shelter trusts in our practice system training, most clients don't need them, given that the federal estate tax exemption is still very high.  Therefore, many subscribers may not use credit-shelter trusts regularly, and this webinar is designed to revisit how to bring them into the estate plan when necessary.

One of the most frequent questions from subscribers is about how to draft a conduit or accumulation trust, and this drafting webinar is designed to address that question, and more. Of course, retirement benefits are non-probate assets, passing via separate beneficiary designation forms, but sometimes a client wants those assets to pass in the same manner as the rest of their property, so they might designate the trusts created in their estate plan as beneficiaries. But if a trust is named as a beneficiary, it must contain certain provisions to qualify for an extended payout of the retirement assets (to avoid having to be paid out – and subject to income taxation – within five years of the participant’s death.

This presentation will cover drafting options for specific bequests (sometimes called “pre-residuary gifts”) in a Will, revocable trust or joint revocable trust, using your InterActive Legal drafting system.  We will discuss options for gifts of tangible personal property, including a memorandum approach (whether or not legally binding), general gifts, and specific gifts of particular items. Gifts of pets and the creation of pet trusts will also be covered. In the cash gifts area, we will examine how gifts of a pecuniary amount can be left outright or in trust, and how to make gifts that occur only after both spouses have died.  Finally, we will cover different ways to make gifts of real estate and other assets.