Estate Tax Exclusion for 2013

The Estate tax exemption was permanantly set at $5 million per the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 and will be indexed going forward. For 2013, the amount of the estate tax exemption is set at $5,250,000. The tax rate for estates larger than $5,250,000 is 40% for 2013, up from 35% in 2012. Transfers between spouses is still tax free.

Also under this law, portability between spouses became permanent, which means when one spouse dies, the remaining spouse can get the unused estate tax exememption of the deceased spouse without having to set up a trust or having to set up a trust or do special tax considerations.