Reference no: EM132504763

Question - Estate Finance Family Tax Plan Question

You are in a meeting with Mr. Attorney and Mr. Client about Mr. Client's estate planning. Mr. Attorney is great at drafting wills and is an expert on state fiduciary law but has some gaps in his knowledge of gift and estate tax. Understanding this, Mr. Attorney asks you to correct him if he says anything wrong or to chime in if you have any suggestions. Mr. Client is a very wealthy and important client with a net worth of approximately $200 million. Mr. Client has no remaining lifetime gift and estate tax exclusion and is deciding whether to make a gift of a $10 million vacation home to his son or leave the vacation home to his son in his will. Mr. Attorney says "it's only going to cost you $4 million of estate tax to give away the $10 million vacation home at your death. So, there's really no advantage to giving it away now and having to pay $4 million of gift tax."

Based on the information above, please answer the following questions:

Is there anything you would say during the meeting after Mr. Attorney's comment?

Is Mr. Attorney's statement correct?

How would you advise Mr. Client in deciding whether to make the gift?

What are the pros and cons of making the gift now instead of waiting?