MSU Extension: Gift While Alive or After Death?

This is a series of articles focusing on estate and legacy planning. The authors are Kaleena Miller, MSU Extension Madison-Jefferson County Agent, kaleena.miller1@montana.edu, and Marsha Goetting, MSU Extension Family Economics Specialist, marsha.goetting@montana.edu.

“Property owners have several decisions to make when it comes to estate planning, and one of those is whether to give property to their heirs before or after death,” says Marsha Goetting, MSU Extension Family Economics Specialist.

In deciding whether to make a gift before death or in a will, revocable trust, or testamentary trust...