Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Well, good afternoon everyone, all you Michiganders out there in
this cold, cold winter weather. Today is Tuesday, January twenty eight,
twenty twenty five, and of course this is Tuesday with Tom,
Michigan's only weekly Internet show where we answer your questions
about a state planning and a state settlement in Michigan.
(00:54):
I'm your host, Tom Doyle, a state planning attorney, lifelong
Michigan resident, an ambassador for all things good in this
wonderful winter land called Michigan. Welcome to today's program. Well,
I took a little time off over the holidays. I
figure we're at the end of January, so we should
(01:16):
start up with some new episodes. If you had been
listening recently, you would know that the last episode was
does Santa have to pay Gift Taxes? So I had
a discussion during the last episode about gift taxes and
gift tax obligations. So if you've got questions about gift taxes,
(01:37):
I would encourage you to listen to last week's episode. Today,
based upon conversations that had with clients recently, today's question
is does my revocable living trust need a new tax
ID number? But please remember what I'm about to discus
(02:00):
us is as always for educational purposes only. It is
not intended to be legal advice. You need to work
with your attorney and your tax advisor to determine what
is appropriate for you and your state plan. So does
(02:28):
my revocable living trust need a new tax ID number? Well,
let's just start with some basic concepts. Revocable living trust.
We're not talking irrevocable. Irrevocable is one that can never
be changed. Revocable is one that can be changed. And
(02:49):
it's the most common trust that people have as part
of their estate plan. So it's think of it as
a legal entity, or I always tell clients think of
it as a box, and that you're putting assets inside
the box, and the box is going to hold those
assets during your lifetime and after your death, those assets
(03:09):
are going to be distributed. Now, while you're alive, you
are full control of the revocable trust, and because it's
a revocable trust, you can change it. You can change
the beneficiaries, you can change the trustee, you can get
rid of the trust if you want to, and you
can put assets into the box. You can take assets
(03:31):
out of the box. Now, if you listen to previous
episodes of Tuesday with Tom or attended one of our seminers.
You would also know normally people will look having a
living trust one because they want to control the distribution
of their state after they die, and or it could
be multiple reasons. They want to avoid probate and or
(03:53):
they want to maintain privacy of their estate. And if
you have any questions about any of those, go on
head on over to Tuesday with Tom and you can
search for any of those topics and it will bring
up a list of previous episodes where I've talked about
all of those. But now let's talk about tax purposes
(04:13):
during your lifetime. The IRS reviews your revocable living trust
as what they call a grant or trust, and what
that means is that any income and expenses of the
trust are simply reported under your Social Security number. So
(04:37):
if the income and expenses are going to be reported
under your social Security number, there is no need to
get a separate tax ID number for your trust. In fact,
if you went online and applied for a separate tax
ID number, many people will make a mistake in that
(04:58):
application and perhaps have the IRS wanting all kinds of
tax returns filed that aren't necessary. So again the IRS
is not going to require you to have a separate
tax ID number. They are going to be satisfied if
income and expenses are reported under your your so Security.
(05:21):
The same thing's going to happen with tax returns. You're
going to file your regular income tax returns using your
Social Security number, so makes it easier for you. Now
what happens, oh, when you die, Well, when you die,
now the trust becomes irrevocable. That means it can't be changed.
(05:44):
And once it can't be changed, now the IRS is
going to look at it as being a separate taxable entity.
And once it becomes a separate taxable entity, that would
be at the time of your death. Now it needs
to have a new tax ID number, So during your lifetime,
(06:07):
no new tax ID number. Upon your death, new tax
ID number. Let's say though, that you are married and
you have a joint trust. One of you dies, the
surviving spouse can continue to use his or her Social
Security number, so it's not going to become irrevocable until
(06:30):
the death of both spouses, and that is the time
that a new tax ID number would have to be obtained. Again,
during your lifetime. Because it's a revocable living trust, there
is no need to obtain a new tax ID number.
So the question or the answer to the question, does
(06:53):
my revocable living trust need a new tax ID number?
Short answer is during your lifetime no, after your death, yes,
of course. If you have any questions about that, feel
free to contact our office and we would be happy
to assist you in having an understanding of that, or
(07:14):
you can certainly contact your CPA or other tax advisor
who ought to be able to explain that as well.
(07:44):
And always too the a reminder that Amanda and I
would be honored to have the opportunity to help you
protect your loved ones by putting together your estate plan,
amending a current plan, or assisting you in settling in
a state. We now have recently, as of last week,
moved we're headquarters here in Grand Rapids to downtown in
(08:08):
the heart of the government business district. So if you
happen to be in Grand Rapids, we would be happy
to have a consultation with you at our new downtown
Grand Rapids location. We are also in the process of moving,
hopefully if fingers crossed our Lancing location back to where
(08:30):
it had been for very many many years on West
Saint Joe Highway in the township. Fingers crossed that if
everything comes together, that is going to be happening very
soon where the place that you likely saw us in
Lancing is going to be returning to the West Saint
(08:50):
Joe office. We have a meeting on Monday to be
talking to the landlord about making that happen. Of course,
we also have our virtual consultation that would be either
by zoom or telephone. All of that can be taken
care of. Scheduling an appointment in person or scheduling virtual
consultation Zoom or telephone can all be done by visiting
(09:14):
Doyle LAWPC dot com, where you will find information about
how to get those scheduled, or you can always call
the office at five one seven three two three seven
three six six Remember two. If all you're looking for
is a particular individual document, maybe you're simply looking at
(09:36):
needing a new certificate of trust, or maybe you're looking
at I just need a new durable power of attorney,
I invite you visit our legal store again at Doyle
LAWPC dot com. There you're going to find information on
how you can order just individual documents. Through the website,
you can make arrangements to pay for those documents that
(09:58):
are going to be ordered, and those documents, if they're appropriate,
will be prepared for you by us and emailed to
you so that you can print them off and have
them executed again. That would be the legal store at
Doyle LAWPC dot com. Well, it's called outside and I
(10:30):
think that is going to be it for today's program.
As always, ooh, if you have a question about the program,
or a comment about the program, or a topic that
you'd like to have me discuss, because many of the
episodes you will find that a cover based upon questions
that we've been asked or conversations that we've had. Head
(10:52):
on over to Tuesday with Tom dot com. That's the
website for Tuesday with Tom. There you're going to find
a microphone. Click on the micro and you can leave
a message asking your question or asking indicating a topic
that you delict to have us discuss. Obviously, if it's
a personal consultation type question, we're not going to answer
(11:13):
that question over the air, or you can always send
me an email. That would be Tom at Tuesday with
Tom dot com. We also invite you staying current with
what we are doing and other things that are happening
in the state of Michigan. Follow us on Facebook and
invite your friends and family to follow us again at
(11:33):
Tuesday with Tom and follow the office itself at Doyle
Law PC. And don't forget to join our emailing list.
We have a monthly e newsletter that we send out.
We just had one that went out today as a
matter of fact, updating you on different things that are
going on with the state planning or topics that we
(11:54):
think might be of interest to our readers. So simply
head on over to Tuesday with Tom dot com and
join the email list, or go to TOYLOFPC dot com
and you can subscribe for the email list there as well.
And remember too, finally, Tuesday with Tom is available many
(12:15):
many locations, probably wherever it is that you choose to
listen to your podcast, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music,
Google Podcast, iHeartRadio, Speaker, and many, many, many others. But
if you listen regularly using another service for your podcast
(12:36):
and you don't find Tuesday with Tom theare again, send
me an email Tuesday with Time dot com or go
leave a message on the microphone at Tuesday with Time
dot Com telling me what service you use for your podcast,
and we'll see if we can't manage to add that
to our distribution channels. And if you have a smart speaker,
(12:58):
you can always ask your smart speaker to play Tuesday
with Tom. Thanks again, though for spending some of your
time with us today. As always, I hope that you
have an awesome day and an awesome week in Michigan.
Stay safe. Tuesday with Tom has been brought to you
(13:21):
by the estate planning attorneys at Doyle Law PC. To
learn how we can help you with your estate plan
or with settling a loved one's estate, please call us
today at five one seven three two three seven three
sixty six. That's five one seven three two three seven
three sixty six.
Well, good afternoon everyone, all you Michiganders out there in
this cold, cold winter weather. Today is Tuesday, January twenty eight,
twenty twenty five, and of course this is Tuesday with Tom,
Michigan's only weekly Internet show where we answer your questions
about a state planning and a state settlement in Michigan.
(00:54):
I'm your host, Tom Doyle, a state planning attorney, lifelong
Michigan resident, an ambassador for all things good in this
wonderful winter land called Michigan. Welcome to today's program. Well,
I took a little time off over the holidays. I
figure we're at the end of January, so we should
(01:16):
start up with some new episodes. If you had been
listening recently, you would know that the last episode was
does Santa have to pay Gift Taxes? So I had
a discussion during the last episode about gift taxes and
gift tax obligations. So if you've got questions about gift taxes,
(01:37):
I would encourage you to listen to last week's episode. Today,
based upon conversations that had with clients recently, today's question
is does my revocable living trust need a new tax
ID number? But please remember what I'm about to discus
(02:00):
us is as always for educational purposes only. It is
not intended to be legal advice. You need to work
with your attorney and your tax advisor to determine what
is appropriate for you and your state plan. So does
(02:28):
my revocable living trust need a new tax ID number? Well,
let's just start with some basic concepts. Revocable living trust.
We're not talking irrevocable. Irrevocable is one that can never
be changed. Revocable is one that can be changed. And
(02:49):
it's the most common trust that people have as part
of their estate plan. So it's think of it as
a legal entity, or I always tell clients think of
it as a box, and that you're putting assets inside
the box, and the box is going to hold those
assets during your lifetime and after your death, those assets
(03:09):
are going to be distributed. Now, while you're alive, you
are full control of the revocable trust, and because it's
a revocable trust, you can change it. You can change
the beneficiaries, you can change the trustee, you can get
rid of the trust if you want to, and you
can put assets into the box. You can take assets
(03:31):
out of the box. Now, if you listen to previous
episodes of Tuesday with Tom or attended one of our seminers.
You would also know normally people will look having a
living trust one because they want to control the distribution
of their state after they die, and or it could
be multiple reasons. They want to avoid probate and or
(03:53):
they want to maintain privacy of their estate. And if
you have any questions about any of those, go on
head on over to Tuesday with Tom and you can
search for any of those topics and it will bring
up a list of previous episodes where I've talked about
all of those. But now let's talk about tax purposes
(04:13):
during your lifetime. The IRS reviews your revocable living trust
as what they call a grant or trust, and what
that means is that any income and expenses of the
trust are simply reported under your Social Security number. So
(04:37):
if the income and expenses are going to be reported
under your social Security number, there is no need to
get a separate tax ID number for your trust. In fact,
if you went online and applied for a separate tax
ID number, many people will make a mistake in that
(04:58):
application and perhaps have the IRS wanting all kinds of
tax returns filed that aren't necessary. So again the IRS
is not going to require you to have a separate
tax ID number. They are going to be satisfied if
income and expenses are reported under your your so Security.
(05:21):
The same thing's going to happen with tax returns. You're
going to file your regular income tax returns using your
Social Security number, so makes it easier for you. Now
what happens, oh, when you die, Well, when you die,
now the trust becomes irrevocable. That means it can't be changed.
(05:44):
And once it can't be changed, now the IRS is
going to look at it as being a separate taxable entity.
And once it becomes a separate taxable entity, that would
be at the time of your death. Now it needs
to have a new tax ID number, So during your lifetime,
(06:07):
no new tax ID number. Upon your death, new tax
ID number. Let's say though, that you are married and
you have a joint trust. One of you dies, the
surviving spouse can continue to use his or her Social
Security number, so it's not going to become irrevocable until
(06:30):
the death of both spouses, and that is the time
that a new tax ID number would have to be obtained. Again,
during your lifetime. Because it's a revocable living trust, there
is no need to obtain a new tax ID number.
So the question or the answer to the question, does
(06:53):
my revocable living trust need a new tax ID number?
Short answer is during your lifetime no, after your death, yes,
of course. If you have any questions about that, feel
free to contact our office and we would be happy
to assist you in having an understanding of that, or
(07:14):
you can certainly contact your CPA or other tax advisor
who ought to be able to explain that as well.
(07:44):
And always too the a reminder that Amanda and I
would be honored to have the opportunity to help you
protect your loved ones by putting together your estate plan,
amending a current plan, or assisting you in settling in
a state. We now have recently, as of last week,
moved we're headquarters here in Grand Rapids to downtown in
(08:08):
the heart of the government business district. So if you
happen to be in Grand Rapids, we would be happy
to have a consultation with you at our new downtown
Grand Rapids location. We are also in the process of moving,
hopefully if fingers crossed our Lancing location back to where
(08:30):
it had been for very many many years on West
Saint Joe Highway in the township. Fingers crossed that if
everything comes together, that is going to be happening very
soon where the place that you likely saw us in
Lancing is going to be returning to the West Saint
(08:50):
Joe office. We have a meeting on Monday to be
talking to the landlord about making that happen. Of course,
we also have our virtual consultation that would be either
by zoom or telephone. All of that can be taken
care of. Scheduling an appointment in person or scheduling virtual
consultation Zoom or telephone can all be done by visiting
(09:14):
Doyle LAWPC dot com, where you will find information about
how to get those scheduled, or you can always call
the office at five one seven three two three seven
three six six Remember two. If all you're looking for
is a particular individual document, maybe you're simply looking at
(09:36):
needing a new certificate of trust, or maybe you're looking
at I just need a new durable power of attorney,
I invite you visit our legal store again at Doyle
LAWPC dot com. There you're going to find information on
how you can order just individual documents. Through the website,
you can make arrangements to pay for those documents that
(09:58):
are going to be ordered, and those documents, if they're appropriate,
will be prepared for you by us and emailed to
you so that you can print them off and have
them executed again. That would be the legal store at
Doyle LAWPC dot com. Well, it's called outside and I
(10:30):
think that is going to be it for today's program.
As always, ooh, if you have a question about the program,
or a comment about the program, or a topic that
you'd like to have me discuss, because many of the
episodes you will find that a cover based upon questions
that we've been asked or conversations that we've had. Head
(10:52):
on over to Tuesday with Tom dot com. That's the
website for Tuesday with Tom. There you're going to find
a microphone. Click on the micro and you can leave
a message asking your question or asking indicating a topic
that you delict to have us discuss. Obviously, if it's
a personal consultation type question, we're not going to answer
(11:13):
that question over the air, or you can always send
me an email. That would be Tom at Tuesday with
Tom dot com. We also invite you staying current with
what we are doing and other things that are happening
in the state of Michigan. Follow us on Facebook and
invite your friends and family to follow us again at
(11:33):
Tuesday with Tom and follow the office itself at Doyle
Law PC. And don't forget to join our emailing list.
We have a monthly e newsletter that we send out.
We just had one that went out today as a
matter of fact, updating you on different things that are
going on with the state planning or topics that we
(11:54):
think might be of interest to our readers. So simply
head on over to Tuesday with Tom dot com and
join the email list, or go to TOYLOFPC dot com
and you can subscribe for the email list there as well.
And remember too, finally, Tuesday with Tom is available many
(12:15):
many locations, probably wherever it is that you choose to
listen to your podcast, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music,
Google Podcast, iHeartRadio, Speaker, and many, many, many others. But
if you listen regularly using another service for your podcast
(12:36):
and you don't find Tuesday with Tom theare again, send
me an email Tuesday with Time dot com or go
leave a message on the microphone at Tuesday with Time
dot Com telling me what service you use for your podcast,
and we'll see if we can't manage to add that
to our distribution channels. And if you have a smart speaker,
(12:58):
you can always ask your smart speaker to play Tuesday
with Tom. Thanks again, though for spending some of your
time with us today. As always, I hope that you
have an awesome day and an awesome week in Michigan.
Stay safe. Tuesday with Tom has been brought to you
(13:21):
by the estate planning attorneys at Doyle Law PC. To
learn how we can help you with your estate plan
or with settling a loved one's estate, please call us
today at five one seven three two three seven three
sixty six. That's five one seven three two three seven
three sixty six.
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