Estate Tax Protection and Planning

You work your entire life to save and have enough money to comfortably retire—and ideally leave something for your loved ones when you pass away. During your life, you pay all kinds of taxes: income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, and so on. And at the end, the government even wants to tax you on the assets you have left at your death. This is known as the estate tax, sometimes called the inheritance tax or death tax. 

 

How Does the Estate Tax Work?

The estate tax is totally separate from federal income taxes and is paid on the net value of all your assets owned at your death. However, on the federal level there are fairly sizable exemptions to the estate tax, so it’s primarily high net-worth individuals and their families who are affected. That said, the federal estate tax rate is a whopping 40%, so we’re talking about potentially massive sums of money being owed by one’s heirs. And that bill must be paid to the IRS within 9 months of the decedent’s death. Illinois has its own estate tax exemption, which is currently set at $4 million.

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Estate Tax Lawyers in Chicago

You worked hard to build your family’s wealth and legacy, so it makes sense to put similar effort into protecting those assets—and that includes protecting them against excessive taxes. Contact the estate tax planning attorneys at Kaplan Estate Law LLC to minimize the potential tax burden faced by your family, so you can maximize the inheritance you pass to them. 

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