This Estate Planning article outlines the OBBBA’s increases to the federal estate, gift, and GST exemptions and emphasizes strategic planning opportunities to consider.

On July 4, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) into law and as a result enacted numerous significant tax law changes. This article will highlight several of the most impactful changes for estate planning and wealth transfer purposes.

Beginning in 2026, there will be a $15 million federal estate and gift tax lifetime exemption per individual and a corresponding separate $15 million federal generation-skipping transfer tax (GST) lifetime exemption per individual. This marks a significant increase over the 2025 lifetime exemptions, which sit at $13,990,000, and avoids the potential reduction of these exemptions that existed under the prior law. Further, it is important to note three points that have not changed: (i) these exemption amounts will continue to be indexed for inflation, (ii) the unused portion of a decedent’s federal estate and gift tax lifetime exemption continues to be portable to a surviving spouse if a timely tax filing is made for that purpose, and (iii) the unused portion of a decedent’s federal GST lifetime exemption continues to not be portable to a surviving spouse.

Click here to read the full article written by Steven Latterell published in Estate Planning, a Thomson Reuters journal. Subscription is required.