Family Gift Planning Many people feel they have paid more than their fair share of income, real estate, sales and FICA tax over their working years. Surprisingly, for those who have achieved some level of success, perhaps the biggest tax burden they will ever face is the federal estate tax and other related estate costs. In some situations, with certain assets such as pension, profit sharing and IRA money, the tax burden in an estate can exceed 70 cents on the dollar since both income and estate tax may be assessed. In many respects, the federal estate tax is, in effect, a voluntary tax. With a minimal amount of planning and analysis, steps can be taken to both reduce and/or effectively offset this largest of tax burdens. Estate tax laws are integrated with gift tax laws, limiting your ability to give assets away in life in order to maximize possible estate tax revenue for the IRS. There are a number of strategies with varying degrees of risk which are designed to transfer assets from one generation to the next on an estate tax favorable basis (GRITS, GRATS, trusts, GSTs, etc.). Perhaps one of the simplest and least risky strategies is to analyze and optimize the use of your annual gift exclusions and your one-time, unified credit estate exemption. Utilized in trust and supplemented with possible loan or split dollar techniques, it is possible to achieve a high degree of estate tax leverage with specialty insurance products, custom designed to prepay estate taxes for pennies on the dollar. Our service can enable you to assess your situation, understand your options and execute the most effective plan of action.