Clients who've headed south for the winter may be looking at
buying a U.S. vacation home. In fact, Canadians are the leading
foreign purchasers of U.S. real estate. If your clients are
considering buying a U.S. vacation property, here are some tips to
help them structure title and ownership to minimize tax and estate
planning consequences for themselves and their heirs.
Read: U.S. real estate sector on the
rise
Title and ownership
It's possible to hold U.S. real estate directly, in one name
or jointly. However, a U.S. estate tax liability can arise when an
owner of the property dies, at a rate of up to 40% for 2013 and
2014.
U.S. estate tax generally arises where the worldwide estate for
U.S. estate tax purposes exceeds the available exemption amount,
which is up to $5.25 million for 2013 and $5.34 million for
2014.
