In a recent article on Producers Web, Spousal lifetime access trusts, Julius Giarmarco writes that a spousal lifetime access trust (SLAT) is one way to take advantage of the $5 million gift tax exemption and maintain access to the property and its income.
Through the use of a spousal lifetime access trust, a husband is able to form an irrevocable SLAT for the wife's benefit, funded up to $5 million. Over the course of the wife's life, the trustee may distribute principal and income to the wife. In this manner, the husband has indirect access to the trust's assets while his wife is alive. After the wife's death, the assets will pass to the couple's children estate tax free.
Posted by Kyle Petit, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal.
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