Estate and Gift Tax Limits For 2026 and Firm News
Estate and Gift Tax Limits After Passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill
The One Big Beautiful Bill enacted on July 4, 2025, made permanent substantial changes to federal tax rules affecting the transfer of generational wealth. Beginning in 2026, the annual estate and gift tax exemption and generation-skipping transfer exemption will each increase to $15 million per individual. As a result, a married couple can now pass up to $30 million, either during their lifetime or at death, without incurring gift or estate tax. For an individual who already reached their lifetime gift limit in 2025, they can now gift an additional $1,010,000 in 2026, and a married couple can gift another $2,020,000. This estate tax exemption is in addition to the annual gift tax exclusion, which allows individuals to make additional gifts each year without triggering gift taxes.
The annual gift tax exclusion amount will remain at $19,000 per recipient, per year. This means that a married couple can continue to gift up to $38,000 per recipient in 2026 without incurring gift tax, thereby removing the assets from the donor’s taxable estate and allowing the assets to appreciate in the recipient’s name.
Additional taxpayer benefits from the One Big Beautiful Bill include an increase in the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap, permanent preservation to the Qualified Business Income deduction, and new deductions for seniors. These updates provide greater flexibility for high-net-worth planning and potential tax savings for many Californians.
Please contact us if you wish to schedule a meeting to discuss the impact of any of these changes on your estate plan.
Cappelloni Law PC News
In 2025, attorney Lauren Cappelloni was delighted to be appointed a director of the Miranda Lux Foundation, a non-profit that supports vocational training programs for youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lauren spent the latter quarter of the year touring high schools and was astonished at how much more involved the high school application process is now than the college application process was for her decades ago; while appreciative of the many extraordinary educational opportunities available in the Bay Area, she also really needs to finish writing the parent essay portion of the applications.
This year, attorney Karly Schlinkert devoured 20 books, journeyed through four states, explored two national parks, and followed the Frank Lloyd Wight Trail. She also fulfilled two lifelong goals: petting a capybara and finding the best churros in Oakland. Not a bad year for a book-loving traveler.
Lauren and Karly recently celebrated their combined 30 years of experience in estate planning, probate and trust administration over a fantastic sushi lunch at Ozumo overlooking the Embarcadero. We appreciate your contribution to our firm’s success as Cappelloni Law PC enters its eighth year, and we look forward to many more years of partnership.
Wishing you a happy holiday season and all the best in 2026!
