Thoughtful tax planning can help preserve more of what you have built for the people and causes you care about. Florida currently has no separate state estate or inheritance tax, but federal transfer taxes and taxes connected with property in other states may matter. For 2026, the federal basic estate-and-gift exclusion is $15 million per individual. Lifetime taxable gifts and the property included in the federal gross estate affect the calculation, so probate value alone does not determine exposure.
1. Use of Trusts
Different trusts serve different purposes. Their tax treatment follows the rights retained, the beneficiaries and the applicable tax rules, rather than the trust’s name alone.
- Revocable Living Trusts: These can provide lifetime management and avoid probate for properly funded property. They do not by themselves remove the creator’s assets from the federal taxable estate. Additional provisions may address particular family and tax goals.
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts: Proper ownership and administration may keep insurance proceeds outside the insured’s taxable estate. Retained incidents of ownership and, for certain transfers of an existing policy, death within three years of transfer can cause inclusion. Premium funding, gifts and policy details also need attention.
- Charitable Remainder Trusts: A qualifying arrangement pays a permitted stream to noncharitable beneficiaries for life or a term of no more than twenty years, with the remainder dedicated to charity. A deduction may reflect the qualifying charitable remainder’s value. Distribution rules and taxation of payments must be reviewed; a CRT does not simply eliminate all capital-gains or estate taxes.
2. Annual Gift Tax Exclusion
For 2026, the federal annual gift-tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient for qualifying present-interest gifts. Two spouses can each make qualifying gifts, potentially totaling $38,000 to a recipient; gift-splitting and return requirements must be evaluated if one spouse makes the gift. The exclusion is not a cap on what you may give. Larger gifts can require a return and use available lifetime exemption without necessarily producing an immediate tax bill. A gift-tax exclusion also does not create a Medicaid transfer exception.
3. Lifetime Gift Tax Exemption and Estate Tax Exemption
The federal estate-and-gift exclusion is unified, so using it for taxable lifetime gifts generally reduces what remains available at death. Under current law, the basic amount is $15 million in 2026, with inflation adjustments after that. Giving appreciating assets may shift future growth, but gifts can also carry the donor’s income-tax basis. Compare transfer-tax savings with possible future capital-gains costs before making an irrevocable gift.
4. Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs)
A family limited partnership can organize shared business or investment ownership and support a succession plan. A properly supported valuation may account for lack of control or marketability where the facts and law justify it; a discount is not automatic. Retained enjoyment, powers, inadequate formalities or an arrangement lacking substantive purpose can undermine the intended estate-tax result. Management control and tax exclusion require separate analysis.
5. Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs)
A qualified personal residence trust transfers a residence while reserving a right to use it for a specified term. If the donor survives that term and the arrangement meets the tax requirements, the later transfer can have an estate-tax advantage. If the donor dies during the retained term, the residence generally remains includible in the estate. Continued use after the term, rent, homestead, mortgage and income-tax basis issues should be planned in advance.
6. Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs)
A spousal lifetime access trust allows one spouse to fund a trust benefiting the other spouse and potentially additional beneficiaries. The donor gives up ownership and cannot assume continued personal access. The beneficiary spouse’s death, divorce, retained rights and reciprocal-trust concerns can materially affect the plan. It should be considered only after the family’s long-term needs and tax consequences are understood.
7. Charitable Giving
Qualifying charitable gifts can reduce transfer-tax exposure, but deductions and other benefits depend on the recipient, property and structure. Outright gifts, donor-advised funds and private foundations involve different control, administration and tax rules. Coordinate charitable goals with your own financial needs and the intended benefit to family.
8. Portability Election
A valid portability election can allow a surviving spouse to use a deceased spouse’s unused estate-and-gift exclusion. It ordinarily requires a timely, properly completed federal estate-tax return, or applicable filing relief, even when no estate tax is due. It does not automatically double every couple’s available exemption, and the generation-skipping transfer tax exemption is not portable. Prior gifts, later marriages and other facts can affect the result.
Contact Spiro Verras
The most useful strategy depends on your family, asset mix, expected needs and actual tax exposure. For some families, flexibility, basis planning and simple administration matter more than a complex transfer-tax structure. We can work with your tax and financial advisers to compare the choices and explain the tradeoffs clearly.
Spiro Verras can help you develop a coordinated estate plan that reflects your priorities and the applicable legal requirements. Contact Verras Law to discuss the people and property you want the plan to support.
Sources: IRS estate tax guidance; IRS gift tax questions; IRS Form 706 instructions; IRS charitable remainder trusts.
Updated October 26, 2026.