Disinheriting The IRS

Someone once said the best will should read, "Being of sound mind, we spent it all."

However, having enough to live comfortably and to be prepared for those contingencies that can be reasonably anticipated is difficult to do with any accuracy. The safest method of planning is to be sure there's enough to live on and to expect that there will be something left for your heirs. If you have a modest estate, a few simple steps will enable you to leave the rest of your assets to a spouse and then to your children without any estate tax. If you could have an estate of more $2 million per spouse, it will require some advance planning to disinherit the IRS as an unintended beneficiary of your estate. Estate planning is a process of trying to keep as much of your hard-earned assets from being consumed by lawyers and the government as possible. However, your estate plan needs to be coordinated with your retirement goals, your asset protection strategies and your business succession planning. And of course, there are substantial tax implications.

One way to disinherit the IRS and still have enough income for your later years is to convert your assets into a life income annuity. The return will be modest, but it won't run out no matter how long you live.  If you don't need the income, you can then give it your children or grand-children or to charity.  Other methods of disinheriting the IRS are described in Legal Ways to Save Taxes Offshore & Onshore by J. Richard Duke and myself.