Of Counsel Natalie Annis and Special Counsel Jamil Daoud are quoted in a Forbes article, “How Three Families Are Using The New $11 Million Estate and Gift Tax Break,” about the doubling of the federal estate and gift tax exemption for 2018.
For sophisticated high net worth clients, it’s not whether they’re going to use the exemption, but “when and how,” Annis said.
Daoud pointed out that those who take advantage of the tax break are not only removing the $11 million from their estate, but also all of the appreciation over their life expectancy. He cited the example of one tech client, who is 55, who is adding $5 million in shares to a trust he had previously established for his kids as a pre-planning move before an anticipated cash infusion in his company by a private equity firm, which should leave the client with $15 million in cash.