As you work through the process of estate planning in Cummings, one of the most important things to consider is how to limit the liabilities against your estate at the time of your passing. Yet one expense that you may believe to be unavoidable are estate taxes.
Such is the assumption that many of those who come to us here at Boling Rice LLC for estate planning advice have. Just like them, you will likely welcome the news that (with proper planning) you can indeed limit your estate tax liability.
The federal estate tax exemption
That is if you even end up owing estate taxes at all. Per the Georgia Department of Revenue, as of 2014 the state no longer imposes a state estate tax. The federal government also offers an estate tax exemption. If the total taxable value of your estate ends up coming in under the exemption amount, you will not owe estate taxes (and all of those funds will be available to settle any pending debts and then pass on to your beneficiaries).
Electing estate tax portability
You can optimize the federal estate tax exemption to protect even more assets than the tax threshold (which, according to the Internal Revenue Service, is $11.58 million for 2020). Leaving the entirety of your estate to your spouse makes this possible (thanks to the unlimited marital deduction). Doing so preserves your entire estate tax exemption amount. Your spouse can then combine your unused amount with theirs by filing an estate tax return electing portability the same year you pass away. This effectively doubles the exemption amount between the two of you.
You can learn more about making the most of your estate planning by continuing to explore our site.