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Estate Planning

"Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible,” federal appeals court Judge Hand famously wrote in 1934.  “[H]e is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury.  There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes.”

Proper estate planning does exactly what Judge Hand promises.  It allows you to take personal control over your estate, determining how your assets are handled during your life and distributed after your death. 

A sound estate plan eliminates unwanted government involvement and minimizes the potential for disputes among heirs and beneficiaries.  In short, it provides peace of mind. 

Experience as trusted advisors

Foster Swift’s estate planning attorneys have decades of experience drafting estate plans, including: 

  • Foundational Estate plans, consisting of a will, revocable trust, and powers of attorney for medical and financial decisions
  • Estate Tax Planning Trusts
  • Marital Deduction and Qualified Terminable Interest Property Trusts
  • Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
  • Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts
  • Special Needs Trusts
  • Charitable Trusts
  • Pet Trusts
  • Family LLC’s , Intentionally Defective Irrevocable Trusts and other Gift Leveraging Tools
  • Business Succession Planning
  • Estate and Trust Administration

Each plan is tailored to the individual needs of our diverse clientele. This includes the young family just beginning their life together to the affluent, well-established business executive concerned with the succession of the family business. 

Whether the estate is simple or complex, the goal of the estate plan is the same: to achieve personal and family objectives and to minimize tax liability. 

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Tax Adjustments 2025

On October 22, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service released the annual inflation adjustments for tax year 2025. Relevant adjustments regarding estate and gift planning, the transfer tax exemption levels for 2025 are:

  • Estate tax credits. Estates of decedents who die during 2025 have a basic exclusion amount of $13,990,000, increased from $13,610,000 for estates of decedents who died in 2024.
  • Annual exclusion for gifts increases to $19,000 for calendar year 2025, rising from $18,000 for calendar year 2024.

More information is available here: IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2025 | Internal Revenue Service

The scheduled sunset for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act remains in place.  The current lifetime transfer tax exemption levels will be reduced to ½ of their amount as of January 1, 2026, absent legislative action.

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