Under federal law each individual has a lifetime federal estate and gift tax exemption (the E&T Exemption) and a generation skipping transfer tax exemption (the GST Exemption together with the E&T Exemption, the Individual Exemptions), which both increased to $13,610,000 in 2024 from $12,920,000 in 2023.

The E&T Exemption is “coupled” such that it can be used for either lifetime transfers or transfers at death (or a combination), and one spouse’s unused E&T Exemption may be transferred to his or her surviving spouse via the timely filing of a federal estate tax return. Notably, the GST Exemption is not coupled and may not be passed to a surviving spouse.