The $15 Million Question

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For years, every estate attorney in the country

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was telling wealthy clients the same urgent thing.

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Use your exemption before it gets cut in half

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at the end of 2025. Well, that cliff never happened.

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Congress permanently reset the number instead,

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higher than it was ever before. If your estate

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plan was built around the old deadline, it may

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already be outdated and you might not know it.

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I'm your host, Geil Thompson, and this is Faith

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in Finance. So here's the background, because

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the why matters as much as the number. Since

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2017, the federal estate and gift tax exemption,

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which is the amount you can pass on tax -free

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during life or at death, had been temporarily

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doubled. By 2025, it sat at just under $15 million

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per person, but that increase was always scheduled

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to expire at the end of 2025, reverting back

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to roughly $7 million per person. For years,

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that looming cliff drove a rush of last -minute

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gifting and trust funding because nobody wanted

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to lose access to the higher number. Then, in

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July of 2025, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful

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Bill Act. And it didn't just extend the higher

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exemption, it made it permanent and raised it

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further to $15 million per individual. Yes, you

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heard it right. $15 million per individual and

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$30 million for a married couple using portability.

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Starting in 2027, that number adjusts upward

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every year for inflation. There's no scheduled

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sunset this time. A few details worth knowing

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precisely. The generation skipping transfer exemption,

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the one relevant to leaving assets directly to

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grandchildren or a dynasty trust, almost moved

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the $15 million. But unlike the estate exemption,

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it is not portable between spouses, meaning each

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spouse needs their own planning to use it. And

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portability itself, a surviving spouse's ability

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to use a deceased spouse's unused exemption,

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still requires filing an estate tax return within

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nine months of death, even when no tax is owed.

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Missing that filing has, in real cases, caused

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families access to millions in exemption they

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were otherwise entitled to receive. So why permanent

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doesn't mean nothing to do? Here's where I want

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to push back on the natural reaction to this

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news, which is relief followed by doing nothing,

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which is what most families do. And we can't

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do that. First, several states still impose their

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own estate or inheritance tax, often at exemption

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levels far below the federal number. New York

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is a clear example. Its exemption sits around

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$7 million and it has what's called a cliff if

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your taxable estate exceeds that threshold by

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more than 5%. You don't just owe tax on the amount

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over the line. You lose the exemption entirely

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and owe tax on the whole estate for the first

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dollar. For families in states like that, The

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federal relief doesn't eliminate the planning

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conversation. It just shifts where the real risk

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sits. Second, and this is the part that gets

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missed. The biggest advantage of gifting now

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isn't just using the exemption before some deadline.

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It's moving future growth out of your taxable

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estate and asset given today. keeps appreciating

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in the hand of whoever receives it outside your

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estate for the rest of your life. Something worth

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$15 million today growing at a reasonable rate

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can be worth well over double that in a decade.

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If it stays in your estate, that entire growth

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is potentially subject to estate tax later. If

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it is already transferred, that growth happens

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completely outside the calculation. Third, if

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your estate plan, your trust structures, your

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gifting strategy, your beneficiary designation

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was drafted assuming the old cliff, it was built

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around a temporary law that no longer exists.

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So I need you to be aware of that. Plans built

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for scarcity don't automatically make sense in

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a world of permanence. Some structures Like certain

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valuation discount strategies can actually backfire

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under the new rule by unnecessarily lowering

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the cost basis your heirs received. Listen, none

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of this requires panic. It requires an actual

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review, not an assumption that permanent means

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finished, okay? Now, what does scripture already

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say about this? There's a proverb that speaks

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exactly to this kind of planning and it's more

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direct than people usually give it credit for.

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And that's Proverbs chapter 13 that says a good

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person leaves an inheritance to their children's

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children, not just to their own children, but

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to two generations forward. Now read quickly,

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that can sound like a nice sentiment about being

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generous. But read carefully, it's actually a

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statement about foresight. Leaving something

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to your children's children isn't accidental.

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It requires thinking and planning in a longer

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time horizon than your own lifetime. And arranging

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things now so that the benefit actually reaches

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people you may never meet. is what we're talking

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about that's a precisely what a generational

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skip trust does in modern estate planning not

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by coincidence but because the underlining wisdom

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is the same it's not simply leave money behind

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it's planned intentionally enough that what you've

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built keeps compounding benefit for people two

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generations out here's how i'd apply it directly

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to this moment A permanent historical high exemption

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doesn't do the work directly in that proverb

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by itself. It does remove an obstacle. The actual

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leaving of an inheritance structure intentional

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reaching two generations forward still requires

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the same thing. It always has a plan reviewed

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and updated built by someone thinking further

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ahead than their own lifetime. The cliff everyone

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seared seared. didn't happen that's genuinely

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good news but good news about the law was never

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a substitute for an actual plan and the oldest

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wisdom on this subject has always said the same

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thing what reaches your children's children got

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there because someone planned for it too If you're

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ready to begin your investment journey, call

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Joseph Wealth Management at 800 -807 -2881 or

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email us at info at josephwealthmanagement .com.

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If you have a question for Faith and Finance,

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call that same number and ask to be transferred

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to our voicemail system. Tell us your name and

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the city and state you're calling from. Who knows,

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your question might be featured on an upcoming

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episode. Thank you for listening to Faith and

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Finance. Have a great day. The Faith and Finance

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podcast is intended for educational, informational,

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and entertainment purposes only. The views and

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opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are

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their own and do not necessarily reflect those

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of Joseph Wealth Management, Joseph Eden Capital,

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or any affiliated entity. Nothing shared on this

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podcast should be construed as personalized,

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financial, legal, tax, or investment advice.

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All investing carries risk, including the potential

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loss of principal. Listeners are strongly encouraged

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to consult with a licensed financial advisor

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or fiduciary who understands their unique circumstances

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before making any financial decisions. Joseph

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Wealth Management and Joseph Eden Capital are

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registered entities and operate in accordance

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with applicable regulatory guidelines. Business

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is conducted only in jurisdictions where they

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are duly licensed or exempt from registration.