FindLaw.com
By Oni Harton
August 29th, 2025
Planning ahead to lower the value of what you leave behind, so “less is taxed”— Estate tax can be reduced using a variety of legitimate estate planning techniques…
Common ways include leaving assets to a spouse tax-free, making yearly gifts within the allowed limit, using trusts (like life insurance or home trusts), giving to charity, and using special rules for valuing certain property.
Tax planning is an estate planning technique used to reduce the total value of an estate. This step, in turn, decreases an estate’s tax burden. Steps taken during the tax planning process can reduce or even eliminate the federal estate tax and any other estate tax liability.
Estate tax planning is beneficial. It can reduce assets that are part of your estate today and sometimes have beneficial tax implications during your lifetime. Planning techniques include using your federal estate tax exemption and making charitable donations. These steps can go a long way toward reducing your tax liability during the probate process.
