Many estate and gift planning techniques are subject to intense scrutiny by the IRS, and any undervalued assets may be subject to tax penalties. Penalties are less likely to be levied if a valuation has been performed in good faith by an independent third-party appraiser. A qualified appraisal prepared by a competent professional appraiser helps establish a “reasonable basis” for the valuation.
Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs) and Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) are popular tools for estate planning. Other commonly used estate planning techniques include charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, private foundations, private annuities, generation-skipping trusts, grantor-retained trusts (GRAT) and annuity trusts. The use of these estate planning techniques combined with appropriate discounting for lack of control and lack of marketability / liquidity can significantly reduce the estate and gift tax burden on asset transfers while maximizing family wealth.
Estate planning is an essential way to assure the desirable disposition of one’s assets. Harwell Valuation Advisors are experts in the valuation of assets for gift and estate tax planning. We work closely with our clients’ legal and financial advisors to ensure that our work is conducted in a professional, timely, and economical manner.
