Wills, Trusts, and More

Lifetime Gifts

by Jeffery J. McKenna

"It is better to give than to receive." The sage who coined this phrase was speaking in terms of the good we can do by making gifts. Following this same advice can lead to tax-savings as well. However, it is important to "look before we leap." Careful examination of both personal and tax considerations should be made before embarking on a course of lifetime gift giving.

Gifting is a strategy that is often suggested by estate and financial planners to those with the largest estates. Perhaps the most significant advantage is that federal estate taxes and probate costs will be reduced because the gifted property is no longer part of your estate.

In addition, income tax savings are also possible through the use of lifetime gifts. Although certain provisions of the tax law restrict your options, you can still achieve income tax savings by giving incomeproducing property to those in lower tax brackets. For instance, if dividends from your stocks are taxed to you at 35 percent, you can pocket 25 percent more by giving the stock to a family member who is in the 10 percent tax bracket.

Making lifetime gifts allows you to see how the recipient manages the property or money. This may help you decide whether later gifts should be made outright or in trust. Also, lifetime gifts need not become part of the public record like gifts made under a Will or Trust.

Last, but not least, are the advantageous rules that make certain gifts nontaxable. The basic rule is that anyone can give up to $17,000 (as of Jan. 1, 2023) in money or other property each year, to any number of parties, with no gift tax. This $17,000 per year, per recipient, rule is known as the “annual gift tax exclusion.” Gifts between spouses, regardless of amount, are also nontaxable. So, too, are certain tuition and medical expenses that you may make on behalf of another.

While gifting obviously has its advantages, it has its disadvantages as well. Initially, in order to achieve the advantages of gifting, you must relinquish all controls over the gifted property. Gifts must be made with no strings attached. Gifting can also have an impact on your eligibility for nursing home medical assistance.

Perhaps the most significant tax disadvantage of gifting is the loss of the socalled "stepped-up" basis. This can be best explained by an example. Let's say you purchased unimproved land for $10,000 but the land is now worth $100,000. If you sell the land, you would realize a $90,000 taxable gain. If you were to make a lifetime gift of this property, the recipient would stand in your shoes and would also realize a $90,000 taxable gain if he or she were to sell the property. If, however, you were to bequeath the property in your Will or Revocable Trust, your beneficiary would receive it as if he or she paid $100,000 for it. As such, they could,

Don't Bug Me

A boy asks his father, "Dad, are bugs good to eat?"

"That's disgusting. Don't talk about things like that over dinner," the dad replies.

PANGUITCH OFFICE AT 46 NORTH MAIN STREET TO SERVE CLIENTS IN AND AROUND GARFIELD COUNTY.

Jeffery J. McKenna is a local attorney whose practice has been focused on Estate Planning for over 20 years. He is licensed and serves clients in Utah, Arizona and Nevada. He is a shareholder at the law firm of Barney, McKenna and Olmstead. If you have questions you would like addressed in these articles, please feel free to contact him at 435 628-1711 or jmckenna@barney-mckenna.com or visit the firm’s website at WWW.BARNEYMCKENNA.COM, he would enjoy hearing from you.

in turn, sell it for $100,000 and realize no taxable gain. Because of this “stepped-up basis” that a decedent's beneficiaries receive, it is suggested that a donor refrain from gifting appreciated property. The decision to make significant gifts involves consideration of many factors. If you have the inclination or the need to institute a gifting program, you should speak with your financial advisor or estate planning attorney to determine whether it is truly better to give than to receive.

Invite

After dinner the father asks, "Now, son, what did you want to ask me?"

"Oh, nothing," the boy says. "There was a bug in your soup, but now it’s gone."

Art Collector

A New York attorney representing a wealthy art collector called his client and said to him, “Saul, I have some good news and I have some bad news.”

The art collector replied, “I’ve had an awful day; let’s hear the good news first.”

The attorney said, “Well, I met with your wife today, and she informed me that she invested $5,000 in two pictures that she thinks will bring a minimum of $15-20 million. I think she could be right.”

Saul replied enthusiastically, “Well done! My wife is a brilliant businesswoman! You’ve just made my day. Now I know I can handle the bad news. What is it?”

The attorney replied, “The pictures are of you with your secretary.”

THEME:

My wife, my daughter and I were invited to my brother's home for Sunday dinner. It had been a rough week at work and I wanted to rest, so I kept telling my wife and daughter, "We're not going to stay very long."

My wife finally looked at me and said, "Why don't you call and see if they have a drive-through window?"

Fine Wine

I told my wife that a husband is like a fine wine; he gets better with age. The next day, she locked me in the cellar.

PUNishment

I'm happy Ford didn't invent the airplane. It wouldn't have been Wright.

Sudoku

To Play: Complete the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9

This week's answers on page 11

Nostrils

18. *"Everything Everywhere All At Once" or "The Fablemans" nominee

Trampled

Humpty without t

*Cate Blanchett's 6-time nominated movie

Store in a silo

Tiny crustacean

Chop off

Not digital

Cut with a beam

Empty spaces

Not good

Relating to pond scum

Capri or Catalina

Lament

____ Khan

Full event

*He's won the most academy awards

Jump key

Not yes, nor no

Male sibs 52. *"The Fablemans" composer John ____, 53time nominee

Resin-producing tree

Call to Mary

Get-out-of-jail money

Bye, in Castile

Ages and ages

Competitive advantage

Appetite

Farm female

Fender-bender damage

DOWN

1. Key often used with ctrl

2. Gold rush, e.g.

3. Purse with notions

4. Leechee, alt. sp.

5. Dandruff locale

6. This bird gets the worm?

7. Give a traffic ticket

8. Big do

9. Cattail, e.g.

10. *"____ Harris Goes to Paris," Best Costume Design nominee

12. Tarzan and such

13. Like beer at a kegger (2 words)

14. *"The Banshees of Inisherin" nominee

19. Polynesian dance, pl.

22. Dress like Ancient Greeks

23. *Austin Butler's gyrating character

24. Gallows loop

25. Oil crisis

26. *Last year's Best Picture winner

27. Like a Druid, e.g.

28. Missouri River tributary

29. Flying nuisance

32. Lend a hand in crime

33. Order's partner

36. *"Guillermo ____ ____'s Pinocchio"

38. "My wife can vouch for me," e.g.

40. Address to a boy, slangily

41. Bucolics

44. Desert traveler's hope

46. Bikini Bottom locale

48. Variation of meow

49. Skirt shape

50. Past tense of bid

51. Roman remain, e.g.

52. Cry of glee

53. Like a full-fledged Mafia man

54. Leo or Libra

55. Jared's competitor

58. Allow

Solution on page 11

Well, our historical snowstorm went north. They did get the wind right, but the four days of snow only amounted to about 5 1/2” where we live. They are predicting more snow this week, but we will just have to see. They did have snow in the LA County area. It was the first time that anyone could remember it snowing there. In some of the higher areas, they got about two feet of the white stuff. They will probably be able to ski on real snow for once.

It is tax time, and here in Panguitch, you can get your taxes done free through the VITA program. For Garfield County, you can call 435-676-8736 or go to the senior center to pick up information. Angeli Sheffer will be doing them, and you will need your Social Security card, tax documents and bank information. If you have a refund coming, it can be done electronically into your bank account. Our retirement comes out of California, and we have to pay a large tax bill to the State of Utah. With all of the new IRS employees, for the first time in five years, you can call them and get an answer.

Last Tuesday, on the 21st, we celebrated Fat Tuesday, the start of Mardi Gras. It comes on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is when the season of Lent begins. Lent lasts about six weeks and ends on Holy Thursday (three days before Easter Sunday).

March is named for the

by Mack Oetting ~ mackoetting @gmail.com

Roman God of war, Mars. This was the time of the year to resume military campaigns that have been interrupted by winter. It has some important dates. On the 12th (my favorite day), daylight saving time begins. On the 20th is the first day of spring, and, hopefully, it will start to warm up.

I have an interest in many of the things that we consume and how they come about. Take maple syrup, for instance. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. The tree sap is mainly water, and much of the water gets boiled off. That is why good quality maple syrup isn’t cheap. Once you taste it, you’ll never go back to that corn syrup.

Depending on how the weather is, it takes about two to three days to gather a five or six gallon bucket with sap from a sugar Maple tree. It comes in four different colors; the lightest comes from early harvests, and it gets darker later in the season.

Our Senator Romney complimented President Biden on his courage going to Ukraine. He is the first president to go into a war zone that wasn’t occupied by our troops. He flew to Poland and boarded a train for an eight hour trip to meet up with their president. He assured Ukraine that the U.S., and much of the free world, will be behind them in their war for their freedom from Russia.

In all of my memory, there has not been a war that we didn’t commit our troops to be in harm’s way: Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, WWII. Many of these battles couldn’t be won because we were invading countries like Ukraine, and the people would rather die than give up. Against Iraq and Afghanistan, we wasted four trillion on a war that lasted nineteen years, with 7,000 of our troops dying and another 30,000 badly injured. We have politicians that are complaining about the money we are giving Ukraine to fight their war instead of praising the president for his courage and not getting involved with our troops.

Our lesson today at Church was on volunteering as part of following Jesus Christ’s examples of helping out the less fortunate. Most of the small towns in Utah heavily rely on volunteers.

Firefighters, EMTs, Search and Rescue, Meals on Wheels, the Lions Clubs, the Quilt Walk Festival, the ATV Rally, to name a few, all need help. Most of these positions are fun to take part in. Many are filled with older people, and there comes a time when they can’t do some of the work. The Lions Club is a good example of the greatness of the people that are members and work hard to raise money to give back to our community—$200,000 over the last 25 years. Firefighters are always looking for help. I believe they are down to seven members. EMTs have a big burn out rate, with them going out at all hours, but there is a great satisfaction in helping others. So, look at your schedule and see if you have time to help out and be a volunteer. It comes with the pride that you have helped out in the community.

Congratulations to Chris Hatch and Denise Dastrup, long time employees of Garfield County, on their retirements. Both have over 20 years of service. Chris Hatch was the warden at the prison, and Denise was her assistant. The prison is so much better off from their work in trying to train the prisoners in some kind of trade or education to keep them from becoming repeat offenders when they get out.

Pat and I had a great day. We were asked to speak at church today. It was our 66th wedding anniversary, and all went well. It has been our tradition to go down to Escobar’s restaurant in Kanab, for birthdays and anniversaries or any excuse we can find, and it turned out to be a fun day, with both of our daughters coming with us. We are either a united people, or we are not. If the former, let us, in all matters of general concern act as a nation, which have national objects to promote, and a national character to support. If we are not, let us no longer act a farce by pretending to do it.

—George Washington Mack O.

2 New Conservation Projects Funded by Utah Cutthroat Slam to Benefit Native Trout

SALT LAKE CITY -

Two new conservation projects geared toward helping Utah’s native cutthroat trout were announced during a recent annual Utah Cutthroat Slam meeting.

The projects were selected by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Trout Unlimited—the organizations that started the Utah Cutthroat Slam. Launched in April 2016, the slam is a fishing challenge that requires participants to catch Utah’s four native cutthroat trout subspecies in their native ranges. Roughly $19 of each $20 registration fee goes toward conservation projects for the native species.

The two projects being funded this year are:

• Improving Fish Creek: Fish Creek was impacted by flooding after the 2010 Twitchell Canyon Fire, which caused extensive erosion and damage to the stream channels and habitat along the creek. Work was done in 2014 and 2015 to help stabilize the stream banks. This new project will include planting various plants along the river to help further restore the vegetation in the area, which will benefit the fish there. The project will receive $10,000 in funding.

• Utah Wildlife Walls mural project: Spearheaded by the Utah Wildlife Federation and local artist Chris Peterson, this project aims to educate the public about Utah’s native wildlife species and conservation efforts by creating a prominent wildlife mural in each county of Utah. The Utah Wildlife Walls project was launched in the fall of 2022 with a 120-foot mural of a Bonneville cutthroat trout on a building in Sugar House. This specific upcoming project will create a mural of a Colorado River cutthroat trout in a community along its native range. A mural unveiling event will be held to celebrate this species and to educate the public about this fish at the completion of the mural. The project will receive $6,000 in funding.

“Roughly 50 years ago, there were very few cutthroat trout populations in the state,” DWR Sportfish Coordinator Randy Oplinger said. “We have done a ton of restoration work to bring cutthroat back, and they are now a true conservation success story in Utah. The Utah Cutthroat Slam helps fund projects that continue our restoration of cutthroat trout. Anglers should consider participating in this fun challenge because their registration fee goes directly toward the conservation of cutthroat trout and helps us create better angling opportunities for this important species throughout Utah.”

To date, 4,385 people have registered for the slam, and the program has generated more than $81,000 for cutthroat trout restoration in Utah. There have been 1,061 completions of the slam, with 167 taking place in 2022. More than 75 people have completed the slam more than once. Participants who complete the slam receive a certificate and commemorative medallion. Four new cutthroat medallions will be released in the coming years to highlight each of the native cutthroat trout species. A new medallion featuring a Colorado River cutthroat trout was released when the number of completions reached 1,000 last fall.

“The success of the Utah Cutthroat Slam is truly a testament to the partnership between our organizations,” Trout Unlimited Southwest Communications Director Nick Gann said. “The money generated through this program helps fund important conservation projects that directly benefit native cutthroat trout and promote fishing and conservation.”

Anyone interested in participating in the Utah Cutthroat Slam can register on the website and can also visit their booth at the Wasatch Intermountain Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo from April 14-15 at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy.

—Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

Wayne Commission: Annual planning by Six County Association of Governments, accepting of a bid from Brown Brothers Construction for chip sealing of Big Rocks Road, a proposal for Giles Crossing, a Utah Division of Parks and Recreation Off-Road Vehicle OHV Grant, a new subdivision for Sara Bradbury and Triple R, and the B & C Road fund discussed.

Wayne Commission

Cont'd from A1 missioners that, starting in March, SCAOG will be making community visits. Jackson also presented a Community Development Block Grant (CDGB), which is a program that supports community development activities to build stronger and more resilient communities. These needs may include infrastructure, economic development projects, public facilities installation, community centers, housing rehabilitation, public services, code enforcement and other community needs. They also presented the Community Impact Fund Board (CIFB), which provides loans and grants to counties, cities and towns that are impacted by mineral resource development on federal lands. Local communities cannot collet taxes from federal lands, and their ability to provide necessities like roads, municipal buildings, water and sewer services is diminished. To help reduce that burden, a portion of the federal lease fees are returned to the Community Impact Board (CIB) to distribute to the impacted communities. These funds can be applied for by the following dates: June 1, October 1 and February 1 of each year. SCAOG has a twelve member board who will determine who receives these funds and will approve distribution of said funds.

Rhett Jeffery presented the approval to accept the bid from Brown Brothers Construction for the Chip Seal Bid, which they were then awarded. This bid is for the chip sealing of Big Rocks Road starting at Highway 24 going to Big Rocks Road and will include the road to the landfill—aka Dump Road. The total cost for the job will be $640,000. The project will hopefully start in mid-July. This was accepted and approved.

Kelly Taylor presented a proposal for the

Giles Crossing. He would like to be able to use his personal loader to clear the rubble and debris left behind when flooding occurs in that area. “When trying to clean up after a flood, we get soup and you can’t clear soup,” stated Taylor. “The county does a dang good job, but we had 33 consecutive days last year that the crossing was closed.” The commissioners agreed that Taylor could use his own equipment as long as there was a legal agreement written up by the county attorney stating that the county would not be liable for Taylor's equipment. Taylor would also like to see some sort of foot ridge installed at Blue Valley to help those stranded when there is flooding in the area. Commissioner Blackburn said that an engineer would need to look into this and that it was also a liability issue.

Adus Dorsey presented the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation Off-Road Vehicle OHV Grant. This grant would allow for the purchase of a Bobcat and the necessary implements to help with the maintenance and construction of OHV trails.

Dorsey asked for a letter of support from the commissioner to apply for the grant. This was accepted and approved.

Colleen Allen presented a new subdivision for Sara Bradbury and Triple R. This new subdivision will consist of three new homes off of Highway 24 in Hanksville heading East towards Green River. They have applied for all the required permits to be on a septic system, and the Wayne County Road Department has approved the new road. This was accepted and approved.

Other Items of Business:

• Notice of Expiration of Water Conservancy Trustees: There will be five positions available for new trustees for the following towns and cities: Torrey, Teasdale, Loa, Lyman, Hanksville and an at large. The in- formation on how to apply for these positions will be posted in The Insider starting on February 16th and running through March 2nd (see B4).

• Approval of the Travel Council Board was tabled for a later date.

• Approval of the Economic Development Board was tabled for a later date.

The purchase of a Fire District Self-contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) was approved, which would include 19 units, 25 extra masks and extra tanks. This was accepted and approved. Monies for these units will be funded through the COVID money that the county received.

• Commissioner Blackburn introduced the B & C Road fund—or S.B. 175 Rural Transportation Infrastructure Fund—which was sponsored by Utah Senator Derrin R. Owens. This bill creates the rural infrastructure fund for highway projects in certain cities, towns and counties. To be eligible for this fund, the county must implement one of four gas taxes. To read the full S.B. 175, go to le.utah.gov/SB0175.

Commissioner Cook stated, “This bill could help rural Utah.” This should be on the agenda at the next commission meeting. This was accepted and approved.

• Vouchers, with the exception of a $4,000 check for the Teasdale Park, were accepted and approved.

• The Commission then went into a closed session.

To listen to this or past commission meetings, you may go to PMN@Utah. gov. The next commission meeting will be held on Monday, March 6, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at the Wayne County Courthouse. The Wayne County Commission meets the first and third Monday of every month at the Wayne County Courthouse in Loa.

The last two weeks were exciting because of the series of great conjunctions, but they’re over, and the best we’ll see for months to come are moderately close conjunctions when the moon passes Venus and Mars, as it must do once a month. None of these will be close enough to write home about (although I’ll write about them here).

That said, let’s begin with the three bright planets that are out this evening, as I always do.

By far the brightest planet is Venus, in the west from twilight until it sets 2½ hours after the sun. Venus is so brilliant because it is close (for a planet, half as far again as the sun), and its clouds are highly reflective.

Venus is in the constellation Pisces, which has no bright stars of its own, but it does have Jupiter, directly below. When Jupiter is in the sky by itself it’s the brightest object, but it can’t compete with Venus. Even though it’s much larger than Venus, it’s less reflective and four times more distant, so it’s only onesixth as bright.

As this week opens, Jupiter is 5° below Venus,

March 6 - March 12

by John Mosley

and the two form a very pretty pair, especially during late twilight if thin clouds lend a bit of color. They’ll fit in the field-ofview of any binoculars, and with binoculars, you’ll also see Jupiter’s Galilean moons strung in a line.

Now watch how quickly Venus leaves Jupiter behind. Recall that Venus passed only ½° from Jupiter on March 1. On the 6th, they’re 5° apart, and on the 12th, they’re 11° apart. Which is moving? (Answer yourself before reading on.)

Jupiter is so distant and orbits the sun so slowly that it is relatively motionless against the background stars. Venus is closer and, feeling the sun’s gravity more strongly, orbits the sun more quickly in terms of mph, so their increasing separation is due almost entirely to the motion of Venus.

Watch them continue to separate in weeks ahead —but not for too many weeks. Jupiter sets four minutes earlier each day, and soon, we’ll lose it as it slips behind the sun just as a few weeks ago we lost Saturn to the same process.

Tonight’s third planet (and the faintest) is Mars, which from the latitude of southern Utah is due south and nearly overhead as darkness falls. Mars is in Taurus where it forms a nearly perfect equilateral triangle with two other stars that rival it in both brightness and color. These are Betelgeuse, in Orion, below Mars and a bit to the left, and Aldebaran, in Taurus, to Mars’ lower right. Which of the three is brighter? Which is redder? Train your eyes to notice subtle differences by looking long, carefully, and thoughtfully. There’s much to see if you take the time to look.

The sky’s third bright red star, by the way, is Antares in Scorpius, and it’s on the opposite side of the sky.

John Mosley was

Program Supervisor of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles for 27 years and is the author of “Stargazing for Beginners” and “Stargazing with Binoculars and Telescopes.” He and his wife live in St. George, where he continues to stargaze from his retirement home while serving on the advisory committee for Stellar Vista Observatory.