Question: A gift of an existing life insurance policy within 3 years of death is included in the gross estate and taxable at the federal level. It is also included in the Massachusetts gross [...]

Question: I have 3 questions about the timing and documentation of gifting: 1. If gift checks were written in 2018, but not cashed until 2019, in what year are they counted? 2. If gift checks [...]

Question: I live in Massachusetts. Say my estate is about $1.2 million, my case. So I gift my daughter $300,000 cash and file a form 709 gift tax return. The excess over $15,000 reduces my [...]

Question: Should my parents give me their home to protect it from Medicaid? Response: Many people wonder if it is a good idea to give their home to their children. While it is possible to do [...]

Question: Is it possible to gift an adult child $15,000 segments of his parents’ S-Corp annually (both parents, so $30,000 a year) in order gradually to give him business control but also [...]

Question: If I make a gift of $15,000 shares of property I own to each of my children, do I also have to put them on the property title as co-owners of the property? It’s my understanding [...]

Question: I’m planning to give my daughter the money she needs for the down payment on her new house. What I would like to know is the formality of giving the gift of $100,000. Do I just [...]

Question: My parents had a gift tax appraisal for a farm in 2013. It was done by the brother-in-law of one of the donees. I read that the appraiser should not be the donor or the donee of the [...]

Question: I’ve heard a QPRT as a good way to protect my home and pass it on to my children tax-free. What is it and should I have one? Response: QPRT stands for qualified personal residence [...]

Question: If you are a Massachusetts resident and have $3 million, give away $2.5 million and die four years later, so that your taxable estate is $500,000, do you avoid the Massachusetts estate [...]