Case Studies

Pratt Legacy Advisors provides professional services to a variety of clients with many types of legacy planning issues. Below are actual case studies of clients.

Case Study #1 - A widow, in her early 80's, with 2 adult children and 4 adult grandchildren.

Case Study #2 - A couple in their mid 70's with 3 adult children and 9 grandchildren.

Case Study #3 - A couple in their mid 60's, with 2 adult children and 2 grandchildren.





Case Study # 3

Background
The client is a couple in their mid 60’s, with 2 adult children and 2 grandchildren.

Before coming to Pratt Legacy Advisors, the client had a net worth of $35 million. They had experienced rapid asset growth during the past decade which had placed their family in a precarious situation. They had a considerable estate tax liability and their wealth was highly concentrated in one particular asset. Their family values were centered on hard work, frugality, resourcefulness, caring, compassion, humility, education and a desire to help those less fortunate. The couple wanted to make meaningful gifts for the benefit of their children and create charitable gifting strategies that would magnify the total wealth transferred to the family and their designated charities. At the same time, they were a very private family. They wanted to make most of their charitable gifts anonymously and do so without fully disclosing the magnitude of their wealth to their children (i.e. – to bring them into the discussion slowly).

What this Family Accomplished (Plan by Design) with the Guidance of Pratt Legacy Advisors Utilized a Grantor Trust combined with a Family LLC to effectively transition desired wealth to children and grandchildren over time. Utilized survivorship life insurance inside of the Trust to significantly leverage the wealth protected from taxation. Created two lifetime Charitable Trusts, and expanded their gifting into existing Private Foundation using low basis, low yielding assets. Involved adult children more and more in deciding the charitable recipients of annual gifts given from the Private Foundation.

Summary
As a result of working with Pratt Legacy Advisors, the client’s distributable estate grew to $60 million. The strategies they implemented created significantly more personal cash flow which, in turn, was used to make more lifetime gifts to charities of choice. Nearly the entire estate tax burden was eliminated, which vastly magnified the wealth directed to charities. In addition, they significantly reduced their ongoing income tax liabilities because of the lifetime charitable tax deductions generated from gifts made to Charitable Trusts and their Private Foundation. The family is very pleased with the responsible, proactive structure which directs nearly twice their net worth to charity and family on a combined basis. They are also very happy that the adult children are now becoming more actively involved in the gifts to charity each year.

They built our trust ... to further our goals.