The beginning of the fourth quarter is a natural time to look at what still needs attention before another year comes to a close. For families who have accumulated significant wealth, own a business, hold substantial real estate, or have complex investments, that review should include your estate plan.

Estate planning is not simply about having a Will or Trust in place. As your wealth grows and your circumstances change, your plan should continue to reflect your family, your assets, and what you ultimately want your wealth to accomplish.

Review Whether Your Estate Plan Still Reflects Your Life

A lot can change over the course of a year. Children and grandchildren grow older, family relationships evolve, businesses grow, properties are bought and sold, and the value and makeup of your financial assets may look very different than they did when your estate plan was originally created.

These changes make it important to periodically consider whether the people you have named as Trustees, Executors, Powers of Attorney, and other fiduciaries are still the right choices. It is equally important to review how and when your beneficiaries will receive their inheritance and whether the protections built into your plan continue to make sense for their circumstances.

For families with significant wealth, an estate plan should address more than simply who receives your assets. It should provide a thoughtful structure for how those assets will be managed, protected, and ultimately passed to the next generation.

Make Sure Your Assets and Estate Plan Work Together

Even a carefully designed estate plan can fall short if your assets are not properly coordinated with it. Real estate, business interests, investment accounts, life insurance, retirement accounts, and beneficiary designations should all be considered as part of the larger plan rather than viewed independently.

If you have a Revocable Living Trust, this is also a good opportunity to confirm that assets intended to be owned by the Trust have actually been transferred into it. Changes made throughout the year, such as opening new accounts, purchasing property, or acquiring additional business interests, can sometimes create gaps that were never intentionally planned.

Ultimately, your estate planning documents and the way you own your assets should work together toward the same goals.

Consider Whether Lifetime Gifting Fits Your Plan

The fourth quarter is also a natural time to review any lifetime gifting strategy. For 2026, the federal annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient, and married couples may generally combine their exclusions to transfer $38,000 per recipient, depending on how the gifts are structured.

For families with significant wealth, consistent lifetime gifting can be an effective part of a larger estate plan. However, gifting should not simply be driven by a December 31 deadline. Before transferring significant assets, it is important to consider whether you are comfortable giving up control and whether an outright gift or a gift to a properly designed trust better accomplishes your long-term goals.

Understand Where You Stand with the Federal Estate Tax

For 2026, the federal estate and gift tax exemption amount is $15 million per individual.

While that is a substantial exemption, families should consider more than what their estate is worth today. Business interests, investments, real estate, and other assets can appreciate significantly over time, potentially creating an estate tax concern that may not exist today.

If your estate is approaching the federal exemption, beginning the conversation earlier generally provides more planning options. Trust planning, lifetime transfers, business succession strategies, and other advanced techniques can require significant time to properly evaluate and implement.

Remember Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax

Even families well below the federal estate tax exemption should not assume that taxes are irrelevant to their estate plan.

Pennsylvania imposes an inheritance tax based largely on the relationship between the person who dies and the beneficiary receiving the property. Transfers to a surviving spouse are generally taxed at 0 percent, while transfers to direct descendants are generally taxed at 4.5 percent. Transfers to siblings are generally taxed at 12 percent, and many other beneficiaries are taxed at 15 percent.

This is why estate planning should consider not only who will ultimately inherit your property, but also how your assets are owned and how they are intended to pass at death.

Business Owners Should Review Succession Plans Too

For business owners, estate planning and succession planning should work together. Questions about who will control the business if you become incapacitated, who should own it after your death, and how family members who are active in the business should be treated compared with those who are not should be addressed before an unexpected event forces those decisions upon your family.

Your business agreements should also be coordinated with your Will, Trust, and overall succession plan so that one part of your planning does not unintentionally undermine another.

A well-designed succession plan is ultimately about creating an orderly transition rather than leaving your family or business partners to figure one out during an already difficult time.

Give Yourself Time to Plan Ahead

Year-end planning does not have to mean making major changes every year. Sometimes the most valuable outcome of a review is simply confirming that your estate plan, asset ownership, beneficiary designations, and long-term goals remain properly aligned.

Your estate plan should grow and change alongside your family, your wealth, and your goals. If it has been some time since you last reviewed your plan, or if changes in your family or financial life have you wondering whether everything still works the way you intended, a conversation can be a helpful place to start.

If you have questions about your current plan or simply want to make sure everything still reflects your wishes, I would be happy to talk with you. Feel free to use the link below to schedule a complimentary consultation with my office. I look forward to getting to know you and your family and learning how we can help.

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