Issues surrounding estate and gift taxes are becoming more and more complicated: what isn’t taxed this year may be taxed at a high level in the years to come. It’s imperative for families who have build up a legacy to work with an estate planning professional to develop and continuously maintain a strategy for handling estate and gift taxes.

At the moment, the federal estate tax affects those who:

• Are single with more than $5 million in assets.
• Are married with more than $10 million in assets.

However, many states have their own rules for estate and gift taxes. The Illinois estate tax exemption, for instance, is set at $2 million, which is much lower than the federal limit. Gift taxes are also an area of deep concern. Gifting money to family members and charitable organizations throughout your lifetime is a smart way to lower your overall tax burden. But there are restrictions in place both at the federal and state levels that limit the amount of non-taxable gifts that can be given each year and over a lifetime. In Illinois, however, there is no gift tax.

For more information about how estate and gift taxes may affect your family’s legacy, feel free to contact us.