Important Tax Update

Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee released its proposed tax plan to fund the $3.5 trillion “Build Back Better” reconciliation program. While this proposal is less drastic than the 99.5% Act released by Senator Sanders in March of this year, it does contain significant tax increases and changes to the estate tax and gift laws. Although this is just a proposal at this point, we do anticipate a new law prior to year-end. Certain strategies that have been used by estate planning attorneys for many years may become ineffective or have their impacts significantly reduced. There is still an opportunity to benefit from these strategies, however, that door may be quickly closing. For anyone who may be impacted by these changes, the time to act is now. Below is a high-level summary of some of the proposed changes:

• Estate, Gift and Generation Skipping Transfer Exemptions. Under current law, the base estate, gift and generation skipping...