The Big Shift: From Estate Tax Planning to Income Tax Planning

For decades, estate planning for wealthy Americans centered on one question: how do we avoid the estate tax? But the landscape has changed dramatically. Recent federal tax law changes have pushed the federal estate and gift tax exemption to $15 million per person ($30 million for married couples) beginning in 2026. And this number is scheduled to increase on an inflation-adjusted basis going forward. That means most Americans - even many wealthy ones - will never pay federal estate tax at all. So if estate tax planning is no longer the primary issues for affluent American families, what is? Income tax planning.