Grantor-retained Income Trust (grit)

Definition of "Grantor-retained income trust (grit)"

Irrevocable trust into which the grantor places assets and retains the income from or the use of these assets for a stipulated period of time. At the termination of this time period, the principal (assets) of the trust is transferred to the grantor's non charitable beneficiary. The non charitable beneficiary may include individual (s) such as a grandchild, niece, nephew, son, or daughter. Should the grantor survive the stipulated period of time, he or she will incur substantial savings in estate and gift taxes. In order for these savings in taxes to occur, the following requirements must be met by the grantor:

  1. income to the grantor must be the sole result of the income generated by assets held in the trust.
  2. any income generated by the assets held in the trust can be paid only to the grantor of the trust.
  3. neither the grantor nor the spouse of the grantor can act as a trustee of the trust.
  4. any income retained by the grantor must be for a period of time not to exceed 10 years.
Should the grantor die before the stipulated period of time the trust expires, the value of the assets of the trust are included in the grantor's estate for FEDERAL ESTATE TAX purposes, even though the assets are not physically transferred to the estate of the grantor.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

Annual contributions to a pension plan that exceed or are smaller than the minimum required for future employee benefits currently being earned; and any supplemental liability for past ...

Combination of the funds of many policyholders held in a single account and invested as a single entity. ...

Contractual rights to a stipulated percentage of the increase in the value of an insurance agency over a given future period of time. They are used to convey a percentage of the increase in ...

Securities that derive their value from other financial instruments that are used by the insurance company to hedge its bets on which direction the market is moving. For example, cattle ...

Cash carried forward from the previous year, plus gains from operations for the current year, plus any capital gains. ...

Central (main) office of an insurance company whose facilities usually include actuarial, claims, investment, legal, underwriting, agency, and marketing departments. ...

Type of guaranteed insurance contract in which the term is fixed, the rate is fixed, and the contract owner does not participate in the insurance company's earnings. ...

Time at which life insurance death proceeds or endowments are paid, either at the death of an insured or at the end of the endowment period. ...

Method of selling insurance in which the insured purchases the product directly from the insurance company and not through an agent. ...

Popular Insurance Questions