Estate Tax Alert: Exemption Being Reduced in 2026

6/27/2024 - By Christina Maslen

Did you know that the current estate tax exemption will be reduced by more than 50% beginning January 1, 2026?

What this means is you have less than two years to utilize the current $13.61 million lifetime exemption (which will increase each year with inflation) to transfer assets out of your estate - tax-free.

For example, if you have assets totaling $20 million you can transfer $13.61 million out of your estate today, which would result in over $5.4 million of tax savings. However, if you do not transfer assets prior to 2026, your estate of $20 million could pay taxes of almost $5.6 million.

Time is of the essence to start planning to pass your wealth down to future generations.

Do not hesitate to reach out to our Trust and Estate Planning team to see how we can help you with your estate planning needs.

About the Author | Christina Maslen

Christina is a senior manager in the Tax & Accounting Services practice of Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund. She has been practicing public accounting since 2008 and joined Saltmarsh in August of 2011. Christina’s primary areas of experience include the preparation of individual, trust and estate tax returns and related accounting services.