Why a FLP Strategy in 2020 Could Benefit Your High-Net-Worth Clients
Harry met Wilma and started a family. Now, they’re looking for a valuable wealth preservation or asset protection instrument for their $100 million estate. Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs) have been and continue to be one of the most powerful tools in an estate planner’s toolbox due to the ability to significantly discount the value of gifts made from parents to the next generation(s). Utilizing the doubled lifetime exemption afforded by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ($11.4 million/single, $22.8 million/married), a parent may be able to use a FLP strategy to gift heirs more assets from their estate than what they’d otherwise be able to directly gift, while also maintaining some control over those same assets.
To help you better understand FLPs and the value they provide, Harry and Wilma’s opportunity is demonstrated in the following hypothetical example:
Harry & Wilma’s Opportunity
Harry and Wilma have a total net worth of $100 million and are looking for ways to:
- Reduce their estate
- Benefit their two children, Steve and Darla
- Retain control over the management of their assets
Under current law and assuming no prior gifting, Harry and Wilma currently have $22.8 million in available estate and gift tax lifetime exemption.
If they were to gift their children $29,400,000 directly, without the use of the FLP strategy, they would report a gift of $29,400,000. Because this amount exceeds the couple’s current lifetime exemption amount of $22,800,000, they would immediately owe gift taxes in the amount of $2,616,000.
Instead, Harry and Wilma determined they want to form a FLP and fund it with $30 million of income-producing commercial real estate. Through the FLP, they then gift their two children 98% (49% each) in the form of limited partnership interests which, at first glance, would appear to have a value of $29,400,000. Harry and Wilma keep the remaining 2% ($600,000) for themselves in the form of a general partnership interest.
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