What the New Presidency Means for the Future of Estate Planning

Insights and planning moves to guide clients through today’s rules and tomorrow’s changes.

On July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) became law. That single signature locked the federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemptions at $15 million per person (or $30 million for a married couple) and tied them to inflation going forward.

Before this, advisors were bracing for the 2026 “sunset” that would have chopped exemptions nearly in half. That looming deadline had everyone scrambling; gifting assets, restructuring portfolios, fast-tracking trusts. Now? The urgency has eased.

But let’s be real: “permanent” in Washington doesn’t mean forever. It just means “until a future Congress decides otherwise.” Which is why the best move isn’t to put your feet up—it’s to recalibrate.

Why “permanent” doesn’t mean “set it and forget it”

Even laws stamped as permanent can be rewritten, repealed, or adjusted without much warning. Today’s $15 million exemption is a valuable shield, but it’s not untouchable.

Think of it like a generous tax credit—worth making the most of while it’s here, but dangerous to build your entire plan around. History is littered with “permanent” provisions that quietly disappeared in a single budget cycle.

Inflation and future exemptions

Here’s the other piece: OBBBA pegs the exemption to inflation. That means $15 million today could be $16 million or even $17 million per person in just a few years, based on recent CPI trends of roughly 3% annually.

For married couples, that’s potentially an extra $2–$4 million in sheltered transfers, without any new legislation. Sounds great, right? Just remember, inflation can slow. Political priorities can shift. Acting early still locks in the exemption you know you have now, plus any growth on transferred assets.

Planning strategies that deserve your attention now

With the sunset off the table, this is the moment to swap deadline-driven scrambling for proactive, long-range planning.

Lock in growth with lifetime transfers
Moving appreciating assets into an irrevocable trust (a GRAT, SLAT, or dynasty trust) kicks all future growth out of the taxable estate. Start sooner rather than later. The math is simple: more years = more compounding = bigger tax savings.

Keep the basis trade-off in mind
Gifts carry their original cost basis. No step-up at death. For highly appreciated assets, that can mean a heavy capital gains bill later. Sometimes, keeping the asset in the estate is actually the better after-tax move. The only way to know? Model both scenarios.

Watch the rate environment
Applicable Federal Rates (AFR) matter. When they dip, certain tools, like GRATs, get an extra lift. We’re not in record-low territory anymore, but there are still windows where rates can work in your favor.

Portability: powerful, but easy to fumble

Portability lets a surviving spouse use the unused exemption of the deceased. In theory, simple. In practice? Easy to mess up.

Miss the filing deadline, understate an asset’s value, or skip the election entirely, and the opportunity’s gone. The IRS gives nine months from the date of death to file Form 706, plus a possible six-month extension. Even if an estate falls below the filing threshold, skipping the return is a gamble. The safer play: file anyway, every time.

The modern estate-planning toolkit

High exemptions are nice, but the best plans layer multiple tools:

• SLATs for spousal access while still moving assets out.
• Charitable lead or remainder trusts to weave philanthropy into the tax strategy.
• Annual exclusion gifts ($19,000 per person in 2025) to quietly transfer wealth without touching the lifetime exemption.
• Family LLCs or partnerships for governance, valuation discounts, and control.

Some of these take months to do right. Don’t wait until December to bring them up.

State rules can make or break the plan

Federal law is only half the picture. New York’s $7.16 million cap, no portability, and “cliff” rule are already infamous. But it’s not alone, Massachusetts tops out at $2 million, Oregon at $1 million.

If your client lives in, splits time between, or is thinking about moving to one of these states, run the numbers for both jurisdictions. The state–federal mismatch can flip a “safe” plan into a taxable one fast.

Estate planning isn’t just about tax tables

Yes, tax savings matter. But the real wins often come from structure and protection—shielding assets from creditors, keeping a family business in family hands, or making sure a child with special needs has care for life.

Even with high exemptions, trusts give privacy, control, and security that a will alone can’t.

A real-world snapshot

One client holds $20 million in small-cap equities. This year, they transfer $5 million into a dynasty trust. Fifteen years later, it’s doubled. That $5 million in growth? Nowhere near the taxable estate.

Layer in a charitable trust, and you’ve got tax savings plus a baked-in giving strategy. That’s the kind of double-play advisors can build when they’re not racing a deadline.

The advisor’s moment

This isn’t about beating the clock anymore—it’s about designing something that lasts.

Start by reviewing exemption use (and any past gifting), running basis vs. estate-tax comparisons on major assets, tightening up portability procedures, mapping out state-specific risks, and building a 5–10 year roadmap that blends tax efficiency with client values.

That’s where the right platform changes everything. Estate Guru’s attorney-led system helps you turn these strategies into airtight, state-specific plans without adding operational drag. From complex gifting to portability filings, you get the legal logic, documents, and workflows to deliver faster and more confidently—freeing you to focus on what clients value most: your guidance.

Quick action steps for your desk this week

• Pull exemption-gap reports that include both federal and state thresholds.
• Model capital gains impact alongside potential estate-tax savings for any major gifts.
• Layer trust strategies—SLATs, GRATs, charitable hybrids—where they fit.
• Tailor plans to current residency and potential future moves.
• Put internal guardrails in place for deadlines, valuations, and elections.

Bottom line:

OBBBA buys time. But the value isn’t in the calendar—it’s in how you use it. Laws change, families change, markets change. Build strategies now that can stand up to all three. And if you want to accelerate that process while keeping every plan compliant and attorney-reviewed, Estate Guru is built to help you do exactly that.