Question: What are Estate Taxes?
Answer: Taxes, especially those taxes that can be a burden on other generations are an issue that family offices will often take care of for their family clients and try to alleviate that burden as much as possible in a time of distress. Estate taxes are a tax placed on the value of a deceased person’s taxable estate before distributions are made.Assets transferred to spouses or charities are generally exempt from estate taxes. Other vehicles, such as trusts and retained life estate, are available to transfer ownership and reduce the value of the estate subject to taxes.
Only a small percentage of estates pay taxes because the majority fall under the IRS standard estate tax exclusion amount. An estate tax form must be filed by the executor if the gross estate exceeds the standard exclusion amount.
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