Last week my Slott Report article created something of a firestorm in my email inbox. Shortly after it was posted I began to receive a litany of emails, all written very respectfully, but all of which said my post was incorrect and that revisions were necessary in order to avoid Slott Report readers from making errors with respect to their planning. To recap the article and the point of contention in a nutshell; I gave the hypothetical of a married couple, of which one spouse was about to pass and owned stock in his name only at a loss. I then suggested that a sly strategy would be to gift that stock to the other spouse prior to the owner-spouse’s death so as to preserve the potential loss.
It’s not exactly a fun thing to think about, but death is an absolute inevitability. When that time comes or more aptly, sometime before that time comes, there are a number of planning strategies that you can implement to make sure that you preserve tax benefits and minimize present and future income taxes for your heirs. One such planning opportunity may present itself if you own an investment with a loss as your time nears. The issue and possible planning options are best explained by example, so with that in mind, consider the following case of “Bob and Betty:”
Death is inevitable. It comes for us all at one point or another. Some sooner than later, but none are able to escape its grasp. Whenever that time comes, your “stuff,” including your financial assets, generally live on, and are still essentially yours until they are legally transferred to another person or entity. That transference of assets can occur in any number of ways, but often includes a process known as probate.
