This is not a vent board or any other kind of therapy. Before you hit the POST button, ask yourself if your contribution will add to the level of discussion going on.

Important notes on articles:

• Please do not copy entire articles into your post; rather, provide links to them.. We are now links-only for ALL Internet publications. If only a small portion of the article pertains to your post, Fair Use allows you to copy those one or two paragraphs, provided you cite the author's name and the publication for which he writes. Otherwise, put a link in the HTTP Link box.
• Even if you're copying a reference to an article, provide a link to the page from which the article came. We're trying to cut down on duplicate topics, and the posting process will check the link to your article to see if it's already being discussed on this board. At the very least, you'll save yourself some grief on the boards.
• If your first reaction after reading the article you're going to share is the author is uninformed / stupid / a jerk / all of the above, it's not worth sharing with anyone. Not every article needs to be discussed. The more the hair-pulling articles are discussed (e.g. ESPN Page 2), the more the authors will write hair-pulling articles.

Post being replied to

To elaborate a bit on OrangeJubilee's thought... by Kbyrnes

...The present value of any financial thing is what a typical market participant would pay for it now. In this case, the QTIP asset, I assume, is scheduled to go to a beneficiary or beneficiaries upon the death of your aunt. Upon that event, the deferred taxes would need to be paid, leaving a net residuum.

It sounds as if you're seeking the present value of $X to be received in Y years, based on a discount rate of Z%. You can estimate X using current tax rates and you can reasonably posit Y using actuarial data. Z is a market-driven figure. Is there a market for QTIP assets? If so, that market would reveal a range of discount rates. Higher rates usually reflect higher perceived risk in realizing the benefit; lower rates, lower risk. (NB: for IRS purposes, the federal government publishes tables of rates to use in valuing things like this, such as annuities, life estates, remainder interests. These rates are established for short-term, mid-term, and long-term situations and are pretty low. See link.)

I deal in real estate, so am not familiar with such a market; but I have valued mortgage notes as dealt in the secondary market, and also know that just about anything that has income or financial assets tied to it can be sold. Car loans, Luna carpet installment agreements, accounts receivable--you name it, someone out there will buy it, at a discount to face value. A CFA or CPA could probably help you.

Another factor to consider is that it's one thing to ask "what would the market pay for this benefit?" and another to ask, "what would the existing beneficiaries accept to sell this benefit?" If everyone's on the same page and would accept a market value, then market data can guide you. If this is a case where the beneficiaries weren't looking to sell their asset, then you might have to pay a premium over market.

The following is not intended as advice for you to follow--it's just my thinking out loud. If the assets are parked in a safe place, and the mechanism that relays the assets to the beneficiaries is clearly stated, and if there is no risk of the beneficiaries fighting among themselves in Y years to avoid honoring a sale to someone else--i.e., if all the buyer of the assets would need to do is wait for the Y years to pass, then the discount rate might be close to other types of safe investments apart from government issues.