Advanced Estate Tax Planning

The Federal Estate Tax is a tax on your right to transfer property at your death.  It has been around for over 100 years.  However, over the last 100 years the Federal Estate Tax has developed into something more complex – the Federal Transfer Tax.  The Federal Transfer Tax consists of three related taxes: (1) Estate Tax, (2) Gift Tax, and (3) Generation Skipping Tax.  In addition to the Federal Transfer Tax, many states have their own Transfer Tax (e.g. Minnesota – Minnesota Estate Tax;  Iowa – Iowa Inheritance Tax).  While exceedingly complex, federal and state transfer tax systems provide many planning opportunities to minimize and in some cases completely avoid paying any transfer taxes at all.