{"id":13025,"date":"2024-11-17T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legaltalktexas.hammerle.com\/?p=13025"},"modified":"2025-06-18T12:10:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T17:10:53","slug":"estate-taxes-government-inefficiency-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/legal-talk\/estate-taxes-government-inefficiency-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Estate Taxes, Government (In)Efficiency, and Fraud: Change is in the Air"},"content":{"rendered":"

Warning: this article contains numbers.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Federal Estate and Gift Tax Exemption: What to Expect<\/span><\/h2>\n

With the 2024 election in the rear-view mirror, we may soon get some certainty regarding the federal estate and gift tax exemption.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the Federal Estate and Gift Tax Exemption?<\/span><\/h3>\n

The federal estate and <\/span>gift<\/span><\/a> tax exemption is currently $13.61 million per person. In 2025, it will increase to $13.99 million per person. The exemption is portable so in 2025, a married couple can protect a total of $27.98 million without paying any federal estate or gift tax.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That means most of us \u2013 like 99% \u2013 will not have to engage in expensive and cumbersome planning to avoid paying an onerous estate tax.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The huge exemption is due to the Trump Tax Cuts. However, those cuts will expire at the end of 2025. Then, unless Congress acts, the exemption will fall to just under $7 million.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While that is still a large number, the decrease threatens to catch a lot of business owners, middle-class workers, and landowners.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Future of the Federal Estate Tax Exemption<\/span><\/h3>\n

Trump and the Republicans ran on extending or increasing the tax cuts. How will their 2024 win affect the federal estate tax exemption? From a strict <\/span>estate planning<\/span><\/a> perspective, it would be wonderful if the exemption was extended or even increased. It would be even better if the federal estate tax was completely eliminated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see how it plays out. In the meantime, if you own assets of more than $7 million ($14 million for a married couple), then you may want to delay taking extreme actions to avoid the federal gift and estate tax. Put the basic documents in place now, but consider holding off on the more exotic schemes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Understanding the Federal Annual Gift Tax Exclusion<\/span><\/h3>\n

On a related note, the 2025 federal annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per person. That means you, individually, can give up to $19,000 to a recipient tax-free without using up your lifetime exemption. A married couple could give up to $38,000 per recipient.<\/span><\/p>\n

Updates to Contacting Social Security and Medicare Offices<\/span><\/h2>\n

On to other news \u2013 your friendly <\/span>Social Security and Medicare<\/span><\/a> offices are fed up with people not knowing who to call for help. You may think that it is their fault for having two different agencies handling overlapping programs, but that is not important now.\u00a0 What is important is that the Social Security Administration has decided to help you by putting\u00a0 together a fact sheet entitled \u201cWho do I contact \u2013 Social Security or Medicare?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are a few highlights from the fact sheet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n