Vanilla’s Latest Features for July 2024, Updates to V/AI, GSTT, Documents, and More

As summer heats up, so do the new features at Vanilla. This month, we’re excited to introduce several enhancements designed to streamline your estate planning processes and provide even greater value to your clients. Here’s a quick summary of what’s new:

• V/AI for Estate Builder improvements: Estate Builder users now get automatic document summaries and can automatically import text into the client profile.
• Generation Skipping Transfer Tax – Direct skip calculations: We’ve expanded the power of our platform to support GSTT calculations for direct skips so that each client profile reflects comprehensive tax analysis.
• Additional distribution customizations: Now you can model unique estate distributions and fact patterns with new flexibility for how sub-trusts pass to heirs.
• Louisiana documents: Clients in Louisiana can now create trust-based estate plans, with templates reviewed by local counsel.
• Amended and restated trusts: Now clients can restate an existing trust in Vanilla Document Builder so they can get new documents without retitling assets!
• Create a new balance sheet from Excel import: Available July 31st to all users, this makes it a snap for advisors to create a client balance sheet by simply uploading an Excel spreadsheet.

V/AI for Estate Builder improvements: Document summary & Pre-fill

Two new features are being launched as part of this update. Document Summary provides an at-a-glance summary of the contents of the estate planning document in the V/AI panel. Pre-fill allows users to select which V/AI fields they want to import into Estate Builder, saving copy-paste time.

Benefits:

• Quick overview: Easily understand the contents of estate planning documents with a concise summary.
• Time savings: Reduce manual data entry with the Pre-fill feature, streamlining the estate creation process.

Generation Skipping Transfer Tax – Direct skip calculations

Vanilla now supports calculations for Generation Skipping Transfer Tax (GSTT) on direct skips, which occur when a transfer is left to a skip person (typically a grandchild or any individual who is at least two generations younger than the donor) outright, via beneficiary, Transfer on Death, or Payable on Death designation, or in a trust for the benefit of a skip person. Vanilla will determine if the beneficiary is a skip person and assess any tax owed, taking into account any remaining GST Tax exemption. Any GST Tax exemption used and tax owed on direct skips will be displayed on the transfer tax page.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive tax calculation: Easily determine the GSTT liability on direct skips, ensuring no details are overlooked.
• Enhanced transparency: View detailed GSTT exemption usage and tax owed directly on the transfer tax page, providing clear insights for better planning.

Additional distribution customizations

Users can now represent complex distributions from subtrusts after the deaths of the first and second spouse. This feature allows subtrusts to have unique distributions at the death of the second spouse, providing more flexibility in modeling estate plans.

Benefits:

• Increased flexibility: Accurately represent unique estate distribution scenarios, especially for clients with complex needs.
• Broader applicability: Model estates with different distribution rules for each sub-trust, catering to a wider range of client situations.

Louisiana documents for Vanilla Document Builder

Lets users create documents for use in Louisiana for both the Basic Trust and Essentials packages.

Benefits:

• State-specific compliance: Provide documents for clients in Louisiana, tailored to Louisiana law.

Amended and restated trusts in Vanilla Document Builder

Allow users to restate an existing trust document, making it easier to manage existing trusts and retitling of assets without starting from scratch.

Benefits:

• Ease of use: Simplify the process of updating existing trusts without the need to create entirely new documents.
• Reduced workload: Clients keep the name of their existing trust, reducing the need for extensive retitling.

Vanilla template for importing the balance sheet (Releasing July 31)

Previously available only to select beta customers, we have now released our balance sheet import to all our customers. This feature allows users to add all the necessary details to create a new Balance Sheet with the ease and familiarity of an Excel spreadsheet. Users can upload required and optional balance sheet data into Vanilla using a pre-formatted template.

Benefits:

• Efficiency: Quickly create and manage balance sheets using an intuitive spreadsheet format.
• Flexibility: Choose between manual entry or spreadsheet upload based on personal preference and data volume.

With these new features, Vanilla continues to lead the way in providing advanced estate planning solutions that cater to the diverse needs of advisors and their clients. Explore these enhancements today and see how they can elevate your practice.