Additional Information:
My wife and I are working on our estate planning. If there is a Federal or MA state gift tax exemption can you please explain it to me? How do I give gifts to our grandchildren with this tax benefit?
ATTORNEY ANSWER:
There is only a Federal Gift Tax; Massachusetts does not impose a transfer tax on gifts. Every U.S. Citizen has a cumulative lifetime gifting exemption that was $1,000,000 up until the passage of the recent tax law which increased it to $5,000,000 (but this may only be until the end of 2013). Additionally, every person has an annual gift tax exclusion of $13,000. Gifts do, however, have an effect on the Massachusetts Estate Tax. Furthermore, gifts to grandchildren carry an additional problem at the Federal level due to the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax. A comprehensive review of a persons estate plan should be performed you are giving substantial gifts.
The Beliveau Law Group: Massachusetts | Florida | New Hampshire
The attorneys at The Beliveau Law Group provides legal services for estate planning (wills and trusts), Medicaid (planning and applications), probate (estate and trust administration), business law (formation and operation), real estate (residential and commercial), taxation (federal and state), and civil litigation (in connection with these practice areas). The law firm has offices and attorneys in Naples, Florida; Boca Raton, Florida; Danvers, Massachusetts; Waltham, Massachusetts; Quincy, Massachusetts; Manchester, New Hampshire and Salem, New Hampshire.
