Estate Tax Planning

Excessive Taxation Is Not A Foregone Conclusion

Uncle Sam's Cut

You work your entire life to save and have enough money to comfortably retire – and ideally leave something for your loved ones when you pass away.

During your life you pay all kinds of taxes: income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, and so on. And at the end, the government still wants to tax you on the assets you have left at your death.

This is known as the estate tax, sometimes called the “inheritance tax” or “death tax.”

The best way to protect your assets and your family’s future from excessive taxation is to hire an attorney who specializes in estate tax planning. We can help you reduce – if not entirely avoid – the federal estate tax burden.

How Does the Estate Tax Work?

Estate tax is totally separate from federal income tax, property tax, sales tax, and every other type of tax you’ve paid during your lifetime.

Estate tax is a tax paid on the net value of all your assets owned at your death.

However, there are fairly sizable exemptions to the estate tax so it is primarily a high net-worth individual or family who is affected.

This said, the estate tax rate is a whopping 40% on your net estate, so if you do have an estate tax problem, we are talking about potentially massive sums of money your estate will owe to the government before a single heir would enjoy a single penny.

Thank You

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Thanks for your interest. I know you have a lot of options when it comes to legal planning. Prime Estate Planning has been the trusted partner of Washington, DC area residents. I look forward to meeting with you. Schedule today!

Is The Estate Tax Really Your Problem?

As of 2024, the estate tax exemption for individuals is $13.61 million, and the estate tax exemption for married couples is $27.22 million. Under 1% of estates are affected.

But for those who are affected, there are numerous estate planning strategies available that can greatly reduce the amount owed. We can advise you on the best options for your family.

Advanced Estate Tax Planning Strategies

Families with high-value estates face several complex legal and tax issues – estate tax is only one of them.

We offer a number of advanced estate planning strategies that are aimed primarily at reducing a family’s tax burden. In addition to minimizing or eliminating the estate tax liability, we also help you leverage the advantages of gift tax and generation-skipping tax to pass assets on for successive generations without risk of a tax liability decimating your estate at each generation.

Some of our most popular advanced estate planning tools and strategies include:

  • Life insurance trusts
  • Qualified personal residence trusts
  • Grantor retained annuity trusts
  • Asset protection trusts
  • Land trusts
  • Dynasty trusts 
  • Family limited partnerships or limited liability companies
  • Asset gifting

Protecting Your Estate During Your Life And After You Are Gone

You have worked hard to build you family’s wealth and legacy, so it makes sense to put similar effort into protecting those assets after you are gone.

This includes protecting your assets against excessive taxes.

At your Family Wealth Planning Session, we can go into detail about how you can minimize the potential tax burden faced by your family so that you can maximize the inheritance you pass on to your loved ones.

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