The ESTATE TAX (also known as the “death tax”) is a federal or state tax that is placed on the transferable assets left to your heirs at the time of your death.  While these taxes can be an enormous burden (up to almost 50% of your taxable estate), it is possible to reduce or even eliminate the amount of estate tax that is paid upon your death.  With proper planning and by executing tax saving strategies you can transfer the maximum amount of your hard earned wealth to your heirs instead of to the government!  

There are two main goals most people have when passing on their estate:

1. To pass it on to their children or heirs, or
2. They may have a charitable intent and want to donate to their favorite charity.

For those that want to reduce their estate tax liability for the benefit of their heirs, there are a number of strategies they may utilize including: SCINs, PATs, Family/Private Foundations, FLPs, Family Partnerships, GSTs, Dynasty Trusts, Gifting, GRATs, IDGTs, ILITs, Living Trusts, 529 plans, discounted TICs, or the owner could just spend their money.  While each of these strategies is structured in a different way, they each have a common goal: to reduce the amount of the taxable estate.

For those who are interested in making a charitable donation there are a number of strategies that are available to encourage their charitable intent.  These strategies not only reduce estate taxes, but may provide other generous tax benefits, such as tax write-offs or a tax advantaged stream of income.  For those who want to make a donation to a charity of their choice, the strategies may include Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs), CLATs, CLTs, CGAs, CRATs, CRUTs, FlipsCRUTs, NICRUTs, NIMCRUTs, and SCRUTs.

NATD has identified over 30 different strategies that can be used to save on estate or capital gains taxes.  Whatever your goal, NATD can provide you with the strategies best suited for your family and your particular intent.