Introduction to Transfer-Tax Planning
An overview of federal gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer taxes, including exclusions and deductions.
Tax rules and thresholds change
Federal gift, estate, generation-skipping transfer, and income-tax rules are complex and time-sensitive. The resources below are historical educational materials and may not reflect current exclusions, rates, legislation, regulations, or administrative guidance. Confirm current law with qualified legal and tax advisers before acting.
Tax-planning resources
Start with the introduction, then explore specialized planning topics.
Estate-Reduction Techniques
Lifetime gifts and other strategies intended to reduce a taxable estate.
Dividing an A/B or A/B/C Trust
Allocating assets among survivor’s, credit-shelter, and marital trusts after the first spouse’s death.
Estate Planning Using Business Entities
Using business entities to support management, control, protection, and transfer-planning objectives.
Irrevocable Trusts
An introduction to using irrevocable trusts in transfer-tax planning.
Grantor-Retained Annuity Trust: Overview
A strategy involving a retained annuity interest for a term of years and a remainder gift.
Grantor-Retained Annuity Trust: Administration
Administrative guidance for the settlor and trustee of a GRAT.
Charitable Giving
Gifts and bequests to qualified charities and charitable trusts.
Charitable Lead Trusts
A trust benefiting charity for a stated term, with the remaining property later passing to individual beneficiaries.
The NING
An introduction to the Nevada incomplete-gift non-grantor trust, generally associated with state income-tax and asset-protection planning rather than federal transfer-tax savings.
Estate-Freezing Techniques
Selected strategies intended to shift future growth or appreciation away from a taxable estate.