Taxation & Estate Planning

I?m Doing A Lot of Gifting Right Now

By michael

Well, not me personally but I’m working on a lot of gifting for clients.

High net worth individuals should consider making substantial gifts now and next year while the lifetime exemption for gifts is still $5 million.  No one knows what will happen to the law in 2013 but as it is presently written the exemption on lifetime gifts (and the still-unified estate tax/GST exemption) will come back down to $1 million.  Most folks don’t think this will happen, but then those are the same folks (me included) who would have bet their right arm that estate taxes would not disappear in 2010 as they did…  So, not only can crazy things happen, they already have!

If you want to make gifts to eliminate or reduce your or someone in your family’s possible federal estate tax liability before they die, contact a qualified estate planning attorney in your area.  Consider also making gifts from your/the gifting person’s trust if they don’t need the money for their care and support…  If done right, you could save some serious cash down the road.

Full post as published by The Ohio Trust & Estate Blog on March 12, 2011 (boomark / email).