Estate Planning Post-Election: Goodbye Estate Tax?

Darren Wallace was quoted in an article, "Estate Planning Post-Election: Goodbye Estate Tax?," published in Atlantic Trust's First Quarterly Newsletter. In the article, Wallace discusses some of the "unknowns" surrounding possible tax reforms for 2017, including whether the estate tax will be repealed and replaced by a 20 percent capital gains tax on transfers of more than $10 million. Another unknown is whether the gift tax will be repealed. If it is, Wallace said, it will be "open season on transfers." Wallace told Atlantic Trust's newsletter that with possible changes coming, it could be a good time for clients to revisit their estate planning. "Let's say that the trust document specifies that at death the 'greatest amount of assets that will not trigger an estate tax goes to this beneficiary and the rest goes elsewhere.' Without the estate tax, that could create an unintended skewing of how assets are allocated at death, or a situation in which the allocation of assets is unclear due to ambiguities in the document." Wallace said. "Now may be the time to revisit planning and focus on this possibility to make sure the intentions of the plan are still sound before and after possible elimination of the estate tax. Certain clients may even need to have contingencies in their plans – essentially, 'if this, then that.'"