Grantor-retained Income Trust (grit)

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

Chadwick White, Real Estate Agent Keller Williams Southpark

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:

income to the grantor must be the sole result of the income generated by assets held in the trust.
any income generated by the assets held in the trust can be paid only to the grantor of the trust.
neither the grantor nor the spouse of the grantor can act as a trustee of the trust.
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.