Estate Gifting

I advise clients on gifting, transfer taxes, portability, and the current federal estate tax law, which is scheduled to change significantly on January 1, 2026. I also prepare gift and estate tax returns. An estate tax return is required if someone dies and their gross estate and lifetime taxable gifts exceed the exemption. If an estate tax return is not required, under a new IRS rule, many surviving spouses now have five years to file an optional estate tax return to claim the deceased spouse’s unused exemption (“portability election”). The unused exemption represents a tax credit that can be worth millions of dollars to your beneficiaries in terms of estate tax savings. A gift tax return is required if you make gifts to individuals in excess of the “gift tax annual exclusion” or make gifts of any amount to certain trusts. Transferring assets to irrevocable trusts during your lifetime reduces the size of a taxable estate and can produce excellent results in terms of maximizing the value of assets that are transferred to your beneficiaries.