Federal Estate and Gift Taxes
Certain amounts of your property may be transferred during your lifetime or at death without being subject to federal estate and gift tax. You may give up to $13,000 annually to an unlimited number of individuals free of federal gift tax. If your spouse joins in your gift, you and your spouse may give up to $26,000 annually per individual.
You may give during your lifetime or transfer at death an unlimited amount of property to your spouse free of estate and gift tax. However, care should be taken in estate planning so that use of this unlimited marital deduction does not prevent use of your lifetime federal estate and gift tax credit.
At the time of the revision of this booklet in January 2010, Congress has failed to enact a new estate tax law. Many observers believe Congress will keep the exemption equivalent amount at $3,500,000 for the foreseeable future. The possibility the estate tax limit could drop to $1,000,000 should be considered.
Amount that Passes without Federal Estate Tax
| Year | Amount |
| 2006 | $2,000,000 |
| 2009 | $3,500 |
| 2010 | "Repeal" |
| 2011 | $1,000,000 |