Eighth and Ninth Circuits Affirm “Charitable Lid” Estate Planning Technique

The estate planning version of the technique involves an estate plan whereby the decedent leaves a set dollar amount of the estate to the decedent’s children (or specific beneficiaries) with the residuary estate passing to a charitable organization. The portion passing to the charity qualifies for the estate tax charitable deduction and, thus, puts a “lid” on the amount of estate tax owed. That could be a particularly useful concept (especially for farm and ranch estates) if the Administration succeeds in its present attempts to eliminate valuation discounts for closely-help business interests or in its attempts to push through the Congress an increase in the federal estate tax.

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