What To Do With Those Existing Split-Dollar PlansWhat To Do With Those Existing Split-Dollar Plans

Charles L. Ratner, national director of personal insurance counseling, Ernst & Young LLP, Clevela

It's been five years since the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2002-8, the pronouncement that was supposed to clarify treatment of those split-dollar plans that had been established before the Service issued the final regulations. But many of the most fundamental questions about the tax implications of even the simplest steps taken to address these plans remain unanswered. Despite the uncertainties, though, one thing is clear: The tax and economic issues underlying many of these plans, particularly those involving irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), are not going to be any easier to address as insureds get older and the amounts ...