Whether you made intrafamily loans years ago or perhaps this year in response to a loved one’s financial troubles due to the COVID-19 pandemic, consider forgiving those loans. Why? A record-high gift and estate tax exemption amount and a low-interest-rate environment add up to an ideal time to forgive intrafamily loans.

Under the right circumstances, an intrafamily loan can be a powerful estate planning tool because it allows you to transfer wealth to your loved ones free of gift or generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes — to the extent the loan proceeds achieve a certain level of returns. (more…)