Article on Gifting Strategies

Robert L. Moshman (Attorney, New York and New Jersey) recently published his article entitled, Winning (and Losing) Gift Strategies,The Estate Analyst (Nov. 2012). An excerpt from the article is below:

Cue the ball to drop onTimes Square, prepare to bid adieu to 2012 and its ironically short-lived“lifetime” gift tax exclusion of $5.12 million, and let’s have a chorus of “AuldLang Syne,” lest our old acquaintance, the $1 million gift tax exclusion, beforgot.

Oh, how we would like to forget the $1 million exclusion from 2001 that was evicted from our Tax Code ages ago, yet, like an unwanted houseguest who has been blindfolded, driven 1,000 miles away, spun around three times but somehow finds his way back, the $1 million exclusion now comes a’knockin’ on the door for 2013.

Is it possible to exploit the $5.12 million gift tax exclusion in the waning days of 2012 and not lose control of one’s wealth? Which techniques work and which may backfire? And what techniques apply if you miss the deadline?