November 12, 2019

The IRS has authority on the estate tax and gift tax amounts that affect individuals and families and recently announced changes to the estate tax amount for 2020.

If your estate plan requires an update or if you’d like to adjust your giving strategy in 2020, now is the right time to speak with an estate planning lawyer about those options.

The official estate tax exemption has been increased to $11.58 million per person, an increase from the 2019 number of $11.4 million. This means that as a single person, you can leave up to $11.58 million in assets behind for your loved ones without triggering an estate or gift tax.

Couples, as usual, are able to take advantage of each person’s individual amount for a combined total os $23.16 million. The annual gift amount remains the same at $15,000.

When discussing your options with your estate planning lawyer, you might decide that you can use a combination of giving over your life to maximize the gift tax and giving at death with the raised estate tax amount.

With an upcoming presidential election, possible changes to the gift tax amount are front and center for many people. Depending on the outcome to that election and changes made to the program, if they occur, you’ll want to be prepared by having a dedicated estate planning lawyer who can help you figure out how to make it all work together.