Taxpayers may want to reduce their taxable estates by making completed gifts during their lifetimes. To be complete, a donor must intend to make the gift and it must be irrevocable (that is, the donor has given up control). A check is revocable until it’s deposited or cashed. In one case, a decedent’s son had a power of attorney for his terminally ill father. Five days before the father’s death, the son wrote 11 checks totaling $464,000 to family members, but seven weren’t deposited or paid from the account until after the father’s death. Those gifts weren’t complete under state law. A federal appeals court ruled the amounts were includable in the taxable estate. (Demuth, CA-3, 7/10/23). Contact us with questions. © 2023