IRS Okays Turning Total Return on Its Head

Many estate-planning attorneys have used total return trusts to cope with falling yields in an effort to balance the income beneficiary's need for income against the remaindermen's need for growth. In a low interest rate environment, trustees have had to confront the reality of yielding 3 percent or less for a trust's income beneficiary when balancing trust portfolios to account for proper growth to benefit the remaindermen beneficiaries.