What changes with the new federal estate tax law?

If you are planning your estate in New York, you may want to take a minute to review the new federal estate tax law. This could change what you do with your assets. If you already have an estate plan, you may want to make changes so your estate does not go to probate or other issues do not arise due to this new law. 

According to MarketWatch, the  federal estate tax law change went into effect on the 1st of January. This tax, also often called death tax, has some good and bad effects on your estate. It is first important to understand what does not change under the new law.

Assets you own still will be valued at their value at the time of your death. If you were to gift the asset before you die, this would cause an effect because you do not own the asset anymore. This part of the law is intended to help with capital gains and losses. Many people try to gift assets to avoid the heirs having to pay taxes, but this could be detrimental because the asset will not qualify for forgiveness if it is not owned by you when you die. 

What did change, however, is beneficial to you and your heirs. The law increased the monetary value of assets before they are taxed. Basically, this means you can own more because the taxation will not start until you reach the newer, higher threshold. For married people, the amount is $22.4 million, and single people get up to $11.2 million. This information is for education and is not legal advice.