Overhauling Older Estate Plans After the OBBBA

With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), an important change is coming to the estate tax landscape: Effective Jan. 1, 2026, the federal estate and gift tax exemption will rise to $15 million per individual (or $30 million per married couple). This increase will protect most estates from any federal estate tax liability.

However, this new law also triggers a critical and often overlooked question for both clients and advisors: Do older estate plans designed around lower exemption amounts still work to carry out your intentions?

The short answer: not always. In fact, some long-standing estate-planning techniques, once crucial for minimizing tax exposure, may now unintentionally lead to higher overall tax liability from an …