Are you considering making gifts during your lifetime or bequests at death to loved ones two generations or more below you? If so, beware of the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. It ensures that large estates can’t bypass a round of taxation that would normally apply if assets were transferred from parent to child and then from child to grandchild. The GST tax generally applies at a flat 40% rate — in addition to otherwise applicable gift or estate taxes — to transfers that skip a generation. The GST tax exemption ($15 million for 2026) can be a valuable tax-saving tool if you have a large estate and your children also have (or may eventually have) large estates. Contact us for details.
