You may have read in the news that the estate tax exemption is very high.
Without getting too much into the weeds, all that means is that tax planning for estate purposes is really reserved for
people with, you know, fabulous amounts of wealth. Right now, I would say the cutoff is, you know, between two spouses, it’s $30 million. So, I mean,
and even then there’s techniques that you can do that are less complicated, but I bring that up to say that sometimes people talk with advisors or
or other family members who say you really need some complicated estate plan. Um, and the truth is, at least for
tax planning purposes, a simple, straightforward estate plan gets it done for most people. Now, there may be
family dynamics or unique assets that might require more sophisticated planning, but from a pure tax perspective, because these exemptions
are so high, a simple estate plan is really the way to go. And so, if somebody starts saying you need an
irrevocable trust or, you know, all these other complex instruments, take a step back and and and talk to somebody you trust who’s, you know, well-versed.
talk to an estate planning attorney to say, “Do I really need this kind of uh planning or is something more simple appropriate for me?” And I would say
again, for the vast majority of people, a more simple plan from a tax perspective is is is good enough.