Exemptions, trusts and moving wealth to the next generation.
September 1, 2026
A Cerulli Associates study finds 55% of financial advisors offer estate planning and 40% offer income tax planning, even as practices court affluent households and shop for planning software.
A Tax Foundation survey found 24 of 35 European countries levy an estate, inheritance or gift tax, some above 80 percent, a stark contrast for American families with heirs or assets abroad.
In Lewis v. Commissioner, the court rejected both the IRS's $53.4 million figure and the family's $156,000 claim, holding that state law and an avoided tax-reimbursement duty set the value.
The IRS left the estate-planning hurdle rate unchanged for a second month, a level that squeezes annuity trusts while making charitable remainder trusts and residence trusts cheaper to fund.
Rev. Proc. 2026-25 treats contributions as present-interest gifts eligible for the $19,000 annual exclusion, but one extra gift or a Form 709 filed for another reason can undo the relief.
With the $15 million per-person estate exemption confirmed in effect for 2026, wealthy families are funding dynasty trusts and SLATs this year rather than waiting, even without the old deadline pressure.
In Estate of Fields, the court upheld a $1.8 million estate tax deficiency and a negligence penalty, finding a Texas family limited partnership had no real purpose beyond an estate tax discount.
New York's estate tax exemption does not phase out gradually. Cross 105% of it and the whole estate is taxed from dollar one, a design that can cost a family hundreds of thousands more than staying just under the line.
A bipartisan 38-11 vote sends a bill undoing last year's rate increase toward the House, with the lower rate applying only to deaths on or after July 1, 2026.
At the 60th Heckerling Institute, a leading panel warned that OBBBA's 2/37 itemized deduction haircut may reach trust distributions, as planning shifts from estate tax toward income tax.
UBS's Billionaire Ambitions Report tallied $297.8 billion passed to heirs this year, a preview of the gifting, trust and basis questions facing far smaller family fortunes too.
A finalized rule keeps Letter 627 at $56 instead of $67, closing the door on any reversal as executors of large 2025 estates prepare to request it.
At 95, Warren Buffett converted 1,800 Class A shares into B shares worth more than $1.3 billion and said he will accelerate gifts while his children can still run the foundations.
In Estate of Rowland, a late Form 706 that reported only an estimated total value failed to carry a deceased wife's unused exclusion to her husband's much larger estate.
The new tax law sets the federal estate, gift and GST exemption at $15 million per person in 2026 with no sunset, removing the pressure that drove a surge in lifetime gifting.
Smaller Washington estates now owe less, but estates above roughly $9 million pay more under a schedule that tops out at the highest state estate tax rate in the country.