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Lessons From Icons Of Estate Planning
We can learn a lot by looking at the Waltons, Jackie O., Paul Newman and the Lender family. By Jeff Getty
WHEN IT COMES TO ESTATE AND TAX PLANning, certain celebrities and notable families were icons. They didn’ t merely follow the rules; they reshaped them, and their approaches have become professional shorthand— terms like the“ the Walton GRAT” or“ the Jackie O. CLAT” or the Newman Foundation or the Lender family office( named for the people who founded Lender’ s Bagels). These aren’ t just legal structures; they demonstrate philosophies of purposeful capital design.
What these strategies have in common is their durability and intent. Yes, they are tax-efficient, but they were also created with technically sound values and their creators’ legacies in mind.
While you can’ t apply any single one of these frameworks to every situation, a closer look at each of the strategies shows how good architecture, discipline, and vision can turn a tax strategy into a lasting legacy.
The Walton GRAT
This refers not just to a grantor retained annuity trust but to an entire approach to intergenerational wealth transfer. The Walton family, founders of Walmart, famously deployed rolling GRATs to shift billions of dollars in appreciation out of their estates with minimal or no gift tax. Although GRATs had existed before, the Waltons’ execution was systematic, scaled, and synchronized with their capital plan, setting a new standard.
A GRAT lets a grantor contribute appreciating assets to a trust while retaining an annuity for a fixed term. If those assets outper- form the IRS Section 7520 rate, the excess appreciation passes to heirs tax-free. The Waltons’ innovation was the use of short-term, rolling GRATs designed to capture small increments of growth. Repeating this process with precision created a compounding, leveraged effect that was transformative( and, just as important, compliant with the law).
The family focused on high-growth or volatile assets, including pre-IPO shares, to maximize the arbitrage. Because short-term GRATs don’ t last as long, it’ s less likely their assets are going to be included in the estate when the grantor dies. So when it was combined with discounting techniques, thoughtful asset selection, and a refined trust structure, the Walton GRAT became a case study in how repeatable tactics can produce extraordinary dynastic outcomes.
Politicians occasionally discuss reforming GRAT structures, but for the time being these remain an important tool of high-end planning. The Walton GRAT’ s legacy lies not in its novelty but in its disciplined execution, one that was consistent, risk-adjusted, and focused on compounding capital as a family asset class.
The Jackie O. CLAT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ s estate plan brought the testamentary charitable lead annuity trust( CLAT) to national attention. Though not a new tool, her thoughtful, public, and effective use of it cemented its place in mainstream planning. Today, the term“ Jackie O. CLAT” often refers to a zeroed-out testamentary CLAT that blends tax efficiency with philanthropic intent and family continuity.
A CLAT pays a fixed annuity to charity for a set term, after which the remaining assets pass to family.( A testamentary CLAT is created and funded at the grantor’ s death through a will or revocable trust, while a lifetime CLAT is established and funded during the grantor’ s lifetime.) If the annuity is structured so its present value equals the total gift, there is no taxable transfer and any growth beyond that amount passes to heirs tax-free. Onassis’ s design generated a substantial estate tax deduction while delaying the time assets would pass to heirs, giving those
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