Question:
What would be the tax benefits and implication if any of buying a house where the deed is in name of a revocable trust with the husband as the trustee, the wife as successor trustee, and their kids as the beneficiaries? The mortgage is only in the husband’s name?
Answer:
There may be many reasons to utilize a revocable living trust. The purpose could be to avoid probate as the assets pass directly to intended beneficiaries upon your death. There is also more structure in how the assets are distributed as opposed to simply being held as tenants in common. In terms of taxes, there are some big misconceptions about eliminating taxes through the use of revocable trusts. Trusts are not necessarily used as a tax avoidance vehicle. In many cases, its purpose is more of a legal nature and for proper wealth transfer planning. The tax savings aspect is generally relevant to high net worth individuals. Specifically, they can help reduce the estate taxes and maintain portability of the estate tax exemption, but that will be most relevant depending on the value of the property. If you provide more detail in terms of the value of the property, we can better provide more specifics in our answer. It’s also important to note that trusts come in many different flavors. The more we know, the easier it will be to review and provide proper guidance.
There’s another factor to consider given that there is an outstanding mortgage on the property. Every lender is different and not all lenders will agree to it. You need to speak to your lender about their specific policies as it relates to revocable trusts.
