Estate Tax Planning

What is portability and why do I want it?

In January 2013, Congress passed the American Tax Relief Act of 2012 (“ATRA”), and President Obama signed the bill into law that same month. One important part of ATRA was to permanently implement the “portability” of the applicable exemption amount between spouses, as originally enacted by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010.

Be sure to ask your estate planning attorney about these portability provisions. You may have to draft a new will and amend your existing revocable living trust plans. You need to do this prior to your death or your surviving spouse may be limited by your existing estate plan.

Do I need a Roth IRA?

When it comes to estate planning, Roth IRAs provide one huge advantage over other tax-favored retirement accounts. If you die, your heirs can dip into an inherited Roth account without owing any federal income tax, as long as the account has been open for more than five years! So open a Roth account now to start that five-year clock ticking.

Should federal income tax rates go up in the future (you never know!), funds in your Roth IRA will be unaffected. As an added bonus, a Roth IRA in your name is exempt from the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules. These rules usually require you to begin taking taxable withdrawals from other types of tax-favored retirement accounts — like traditional IRAs—after reaching age 70½. With those accounts, if you fail to withdraw the proper RMD amount for a year you will owe Uncle Sam a 50% penalty on the difference between the amount you should have taken out and what you actually took out (if anything). However, with a Roth IRA, you can keep the balance undisturbed for as long as you want and continue to earn federal-income-tax-free income and gains.

When you pass on, your Roth IRA balances can be left to your heirs. They are then allowed to withdraw the money federal income tax free.