The Three GsThe Three Gs

David L Weinreb & Warren Litman

A combination of tax-free gifts to grantor trusts and “rolling” grantor-retained annuity trusts (GRATs) can be a powerful way to transfer wealth. Sophisticated quantitative modeling and capital markets forecasting demonstrate that even a client with a very large estate may be able to satisfy all of his wealth transfer goals using just these straightforward strategies.

Consider a 60-year-old couple with $100 million from the sale of a successful closely held business. Call them John and Jane Rich. The Riches, who have two married children and six grandchildren, want to minimize the taxes that will be paid on their estates to get as much money as possible to their descendants. To accomplish this goal, they're ...