Estate Planning in a High Estate Tax Exemption Environment:
Do I still need a complicated Trust?
Announcements:
- The Personal Finance Special Interest Group will meet on February 18th. See the SIGs webpage for details on all SIG meetings.
- We are seeking a Program Co-Chair. If you would like to help this chapter remain strong and grow, please consider joining the chapter’s board in this position. See the Leadership Openings webpage for details.
- Following the meeting, please join us for lunch at the Cape Fear Seafood Company (Village District). Note: our speaker informed us on Thursday afternoon that he could no longer join us for lunch.
Presentation Summary:
With the estate tax exemption increasing on January 1, 2026 to $15 million per person and $30 million per couple, the federal estate tax is not a concern for most people. Complicated estate plans designed to minimize or eliminate the estate tax have been a priority for many of Tim’s clients going back to a time when the estate tax exemption was much lower. For example, the federal estate tax exemption was $600,000 when Tim started practicing law in the mid-1990s.
As a result, the question many of Tim’s clients have been asking is whether they can simplify their existing estate planning documents now that the estate tax is no longer an issue (at least for now as tax laws change as we all know). While the answer to this question will vary depending on a client’s circumstances and objectives, the reality for many is the estate planning documents they currently have in place are more complicated than is warranted under the current tax law. For some clients, this may be the time to eliminate certain trusts. At the same time, trusts can serve multiple purposes beyond federal estate tax planning. Examples of other benefits associated with trusts include probate avoidance, protecting assets for children in the event a surviving spouse remarries, and protecting a child’s inheritance from divorce, spending, and potential creditors.
The focus on this presentation will be to discuss estate planning strategies without the federal estate tax serving as a focal point in the estate planning process.
Meeting Details:
Date: Saturday, February 14th, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m. ET (mix and mingle starts at 9:30)
Location: Fairmont United Methodist Church: 2501 Clark Avenue Raleigh, NC 27607. See map of Fairmont for parking, building entrances, and the number of stairs entrances require.
Virtual access: To register to attend the Zoom webinar, please purchase a ticket on our chapter’s Square account. Then, please register with Zoom so you can receive reminders one and 24 hours before the meeting.
Cost: $10 cash (in-person) or electronic payment (webinar); $5 for students (email president@aaiirtp.org for webinar access); first time in-person attendee: free
Before attending in person, please read: the AAII Protocol for In-Person Meetings
If you feel sick, please join us virtually.
About Our Speaker
For more than 25 years, Tim Nordgren has helped families by preparing comprehensive estate plans consisting of wills, trusts—both revocable and irrevocable—powers of attorney and advance health care directives tailored to meet their unique needs. Tim represents clients with legal needs ranging from straightforward to highly complex, including many with significant income, gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax exposure. Tim has a personal interest in assisting special needs individuals and their families, having grown up with a sibling who suffered from a significant disability.
Tim also represents executors and trustees by guiding them through their fiduciary duties in compliance with the terms of the legal documents in which they have been named, as well as state and federal law. Tim also assists businesses with formation and succession planning and non-profit organizations seeking tax-exempt status.
When he is not in the office, Tim enjoys spending quality family time with his wife, Melynn, their children, Tyler and Vivian, and their rescue beagle, Polly. He also loves to read as his schedule permits, which is less often than he would like.