Happy No Kings Day! Happy Independence Day! Happy Fourth of July, America!
Usually i try to get a newsletter emailed on or about the Fourth to celebrate and include some kind of wisdom from the Founders, which is pretty much what i do with all my newsletters, but that ain’t happening this year because JUST A FEW MINUTES FROM NOW our great President Trump will be signing his tremendously important “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (aka “Make American Workers and Families Thrive Again Act”) making the tax cuts of his first term “permanent” along with many other important reforms. This new legislation will eliminate the economy-killing huge tax increases otherwise set to occur next year.
So instead of a newsletter i’ll be focused over the weekend on updating my general estate planning webinar (located here: Protect.LIFE), which i force prospective clients to slog through if they want a free initial design meeting. Actually i haven’t updated it in several years so it’s really just a good excuse to update things generally. The new act’s effect on estate planning will be minimal, other than to reduce the panic some were feeling about Trump’s tax cuts expiring. That panic caused many to rush into some advanced planning that is now unnecessary for a broad range of mid-size estates. The new act sets the estate/gift/GSTT exclusion at $15 million for 2026 with inflation adjustments thereafter, similar to what it would be under current law if allowed not to expire. Portability is retained for unified estate and gift tax, and we can still have ersatz portability of GSTT exemption via reverse QTIP election. No tampering with grantor trusts, SLATs, etc., so we still have those available for larger estates. Really no surprises here. (Hopefully, you’ll still watch the video once it’s updated.)
I will try to get a newsletter out right after updating the webinar, if i have time before tackling the Rubicon Trail in my Jeep next week.
Meanwhile, I encourage you to browse the wisdom of our Founders here.
