New legislation has been enacted this year making significant changes to the estate tax laws. You may wonder whether the new law requires you to make immediate changes to your Wills or Trusts, or to take other action. As you can see from the discussion below, in many cases, no immediate action will be necessary. However, while it is a technical point, you may need to file gift tax returns next April to avoid the automatic allocation of your generation-skipping tax exemption if you have generation-skipping transfers as a component of your estate plan. The bottom line is that this is a good time to review your estate plan to make certain it comports with your current wishes. The letter is written to set a context for such a review and is merely a general summary of the major provisions of the new law. This letter by no means is intended as specific legal advice or as a substitute for a review of your particular situation.

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This publication has been prepared by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. It is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship.