Estate Planning in the Wake of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
In a recent article for ActionLine, David Spacht explores how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act impacts estate planning and the wealth transfer tax system.
(Excerpts taken from "What Goes Up Must Come Down: Estate Planning With the Current Exclusion, While We Still Have It")
Public Law 115-97, commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, was signed into law on Dec. 22, 2017. The Act significantly altered many provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, resulting in substantial changes to the calculation of personal and entity-level income taxes and the further reduction to the pool of individuals to whom the estate, gift and generation skipping transfer taxes will apply.
Although less than .02 percent of taxpayers are affected by the federal wealth transfer tax, depending on an individual’s age and life expectancy, taxpayers who would not be subject to an estate tax under the current exemption levels may still find opportunities for making lifetime gifts. By incorporating flexibility in the structure and mechanics of a client’s estate plan, practitioners can assure a client who is uncertain about the future “opportunity cost” of their gift that their plans can adapt with changing family and legal circumstances.
Even for those individuals who are not likely to be affected by the federal estate or gift tax, several constants remain which should continue to drive estate planning, including state estate tax reduction or avoidance, asset protection or using the larger exemption to cushion smaller gifts of hard-to-value assets from the risks of an audit.
Click here to read the full article.
More About Spacht’s Practice
David Spacht is a member of Pryor Cashman’s Trusts + Estates and Private Client Groups. Experienced in all aspects of estate planning, international tax planning, charitable planning, tax controversy and estate administration, he helps clients develop strategies to effectuate tax-savings, asset protection and business succession.
Spacht is a frequent speaker on estate planning and has lectured on topics related to wealth transfer taxes, estate planning with retirement benefits, tax planning for corporate executives and the intricacies of leveraging wealth transfer tax exemptions.
Learn more about his work here.
