Lifetime Credit Shelter Trusts: Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too
Overview
The lifetime credit shelter trust offers a way to lock in the benefits of the increased lifetime gift exemption of $5 million per person, as provided in the Tax Relief Act of 2010, without giving that much away immediately. One spouse can set up the tax-sheltered trust for the other without paying any gift tax, or they each can set up a trust of as much as $5 million for each other.