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

Type of flexible spending account. ...

Coverage under which the face value, premiums, and plan of insurance can be changed at the discretion of the policy owner in the following manner, without additional policies being issued: ...

Coverage for numerous perils such as that found in the broad form personal theft insurance. ...

Component of necessary coverage determined by the "needs approach" to life insurance for a family. It is intended to cover last-minute expenses as well as those that surface after the death ...

Payment to an insurance agent in addition to commissions. Expense allowances, that differ from company to company, vary with the amount of business agents place with that company and the ...

Table that replaced the standard annuity table, 1937. It reflected the fact that more people were living longer in its statistics. This table was subsequently replaced by the individual ...

Requirement that the combination of medicare and the employer's plan can not be greater than the amount the employer's plan would pay without Medicare. ...

Coverage on real property written to have no time limit. A single deposit premium pays for insurance for the life of the risk. The insurer earns enough investment income on the deposit to ...

Payments from an employee's employee benefit insurance plan that can be rolled over to an individual retirement account (IRA) or to another plan maintained by the employer that accepts ...

Popular Insurance Questions