If you've decided to start parceling out your estate to your heirs now, rather than having your executor do it later, keep the tax consequences in mind -- and maintain good records, says Money.com tax expert Teresa Tritch.
You can give any one person up to $10,000 a year in cash, securities or any other assets without incurring the federal gift tax. When you give more than $10,000, however, the overage is subtracted from the amount you can leave free of estate taxes when you die -- $675,000. So if you give a child $15,000 this year, the estate you can leave tax-free would be reduced to $660,000.
Even if your gift doesn't exceed $10,000, you might consider filing a gift-tax return, since the IRS would then have only three years to dispute the value -- whereas there's no limit on the time it can audit a gift for which no return was filed.
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