Are Joint Trusts going to be the planning vehicle of the future?
I am currently attending an ACTEC (American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel) seminar in Fort Worth and joint trusts are now a hot topic. When planning to use the estate tax exemption in the past we used separate trusts for making sure each spouse used their exemption amount. Now that the exemption amount is now 5.250 million for each person, many people do not “need” complicated estate planning. This thinking is a shift in planning and drafting. Be careful in drafting, however, as there are asset basis issues and regular planning issues…, ie will the surviving spouse really take care of his or her stepchiddren?
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