A QPRT is an estate planning tool that allows you to remove the value of your residence from your estate while retaining the right to occupy the residence for a term of years. One of the key advantages is that if you survive the term, it makes it possible for you to transfer the residence at a sizeable discount to family members, resulting in significant savings in federal and possibly state estate taxes.
How a QPRT Works
- You transfer your primary or a secondary residence to an irrevocable trust
- You retain the right to live in the residence for a specified period, as outlined in the trust document
- After the specified period, the residence transfers to your beneficiary
- After the retained use term has ended, you may be able to rent the property from your beneficiary at fair market value (FMV)
The QPRT will be considered a grantor trust, which means that the grantor will be deemed the owner for income tax purposes and can still deduct real estate taxes paid. If you live beyond the term selected for use, you will have leveraged the gift to your beneficiaries.
How the Gift Value is Calculated
When you transfer the residence into the QPRT, you create a gift of the future interest in the residence. The amount of the taxable gift is calculated by subtracting the present value of the retained interest held by the grantor from the FMV of the residence at the time the QPRT is created.
Consider a 66-year-old grantor uses a property for 16 years at a 5.4% IRS Section 7520 interest rate (the rate the IRS requires for the calculation for the month the gift is made), and assuming the residence has an FMV of $1,000,000 when initially placed into the trust subject to a reversion—the value of the interest retained by the grantor would be $734,510.
The value of the remainder interest (which would be the taxable gift) would be the FMV of the home placed into the trust ($1,000,000) minus the value of the retained interest held by the grantor ($734,510). Therefore, the taxable portion of the QPRT gift would be $265,490.
This remainder interest, by definition, is a future interest gift and will not qualify as an annual exclusion gift. The donor must utilize all or part of their lifetime gift and estate tax exemption (or, if the full exemption is exhausted, pay the appropriate gift tax).
Little or No Gift Tax
In the example above, the cost of removing $1,000,000 from the gross estate (plus all appreciation from the date of the gift) is the use of $265,490 of your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption. Assuming a 4% growth in the value of the residence, after 16 years, you will have given away a residence worth $1,872,981 for just $265,490—resulting in $642,000 of federal estate tax savings.
The longer the term you specify, the larger the value of the interest you have retained—and the lower the value of the gift you will have made. However, the longer the term of the trust, the greater the probability that your death will occur during the term of the trust. When a grantor dies during the term of the QPRT, the retained interest will cause inclusion in the grantor’s estate, and the trust property will be included in their taxable estate at FMV.
Please note that a QPRT can hold limited amounts of cash for expenses or improvements to the residence and allow the residence to be sold (but not to you or your spouse). However, if the residence is sold, or if the QPRT ceases to qualify as a QPRT for any other reason, either all the trust property must be returned to you, or the QPRT must begin paying a “qualified annuity” to you (much like a grantor-retained annuity trust, or GRAT).
Working With Janney
Depending on your financial needs and personal preferences, you may opt to engage in a brokerage relationship, an advisory relationship or a combination of both. Each time you open an account, we will make recommendations on which type of relationship is in your best interest based on the information you provide when you complete or update your client profile.
If you engage in a brokerage relationship, you will buy and sell securities on a transaction basis and pay a commission for these services. Our recommendations for the purchase and sale of securities will be based on what is in your best interest and reflect reasonably available alternatives at that time.
If you engage in an advisory relationship, you will pay an asset-based fee, which encompasses, among other things, a defined investment strategy, ongoing monitoring, and performance reporting. Your Financial Advisor will serve in a fiduciary capacity for your advisory relationships.
For more information about Janney, please see Janney’s Relationship Summary (Form CRS) on www.janney.com/crs which details all material facts about the scope and terms of our relationship with you and any potential conflicts of interest.
By establishing a relationship with us, we can build a tailored financial plan and make recommendations about solutions that are aligned with your best interest and unique needs, goals, and preferences.
Contact us today to discuss how we can put a plan in place designed to help you reach your financial goals.
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, its affiliates, and its employees are not in the business of providing tax, regulatory, accounting, or legal advice. These materials and any tax-related statements are not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used or relied upon, by any taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties. Any such taxpayer should seek advice based on the taxpayer’s particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor.
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