Savvy Strategies for Year-End Gifting …And Why It’s Still A Good Idea

By Mark A. Mulchek

Even with the higher current gift and estate tax exemptions, annual gift giving remains a tried and true way to reduce the size of your taxable estate. As 2019 quickly comes to a close, now is the time to make sure you consider the benefits of gift giving. Besides allowing you to pass assets to your loved ones now in a tax efficient manner, year-end gifting offers you the opportunity to watch your gifts be enjoyed and appreciated by those who mean the most to you. The 2019 Gift Tax Annual Exclusion allows each individual to gift up to $15,000 to as many people as they wish without paying any gift tax or using up any of their $11.4 million lifetime gift and estate tax exemption.

Married couples can jointly gift up to $30,000 to each beneficiary. There are several ways to give, including outright cash gifts, gifts to irrevocable trusts, gifts to 529 plans for future educational expenses and direct donations to educational institutions or medical facilities. It’s important to remember that all 2019 gifts should be made and checks cashed by December 31, 2019.

As leaders in estate and gift tax planning, our attorneys can guide this process, often collaborating with financial planners and accountants to help you protect your assets and avoid unnecessary estate taxes.


Mark Mulchek is an attorney at Carmody MacDonald. Mark provides counsel to clients regarding estate and tax planning, estate and trust administration, creditor protection, wealth preservation and business succession planning. He works with clients and their other professional advisors to develop effective and efficient estate plans that seek to minimize income, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Email Mark or call 314-854-8606.

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