Basic exclusion amount
Certified Financial Planner glossary · Certified Financial Planner
Definition
The lifetime amount that may pass free of federal estate and gift tax; 15,000,000 in 2026.
Basic exclusion amount in plain English
A binder still quotes a "5 million indexed" lifetime exemption from an outdated seminar. The basic exclusion amount is how much may pass free of federal estate and gift tax over a lifetime, and for 2026 that figure is 15,000,000. Portability and GST planning build on it, but it is a different bucket from the annual gift exclusion. If a stem mixes the lifetime number with the yearly 19,000 exclusion, label which transfer uses which shield. Outlines that still assume a sunset near 7 million are Stale Law bait.
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