It’s Not Too Late: New 2025 Tax Benefits & Your Estate Plan – Thompson Von Tungeln

It’s not too late to get your living trust done and learn all about some great new tax breaks under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) before the 2025 holidays.
First, the estate-planning basics: a revocable living trust avoids probate, centralizes incapacity planning, and keeps successors in control if something happens. A 2025 “funding sprint” (retitling real property, brokerage accounts, and entity interests; confirming beneficiary designations; and adding a pour-over will, durable POA, and health directives) can eliminate costly delays for your family.
Second, OBBBA created several opportunities that apply to the 2025 tax year. Highlights include a higher standard deduction for 2025, a significantly increased SALT cap for many filers, and special above-the-line deductions—such as the new overtime deduction—designed to put more after-tax cash in households this filing season. Many of these provisions expressly begin with tax year 2025, making Q4 planning valuable for wage earners, business owners, and real-estate taxpayers alike.
Practical steps before December 31, 2025:
• Prepare or update your living trust and companion documents; confirm trustees and guardians.
• Fund your: record deeds, update account titles, and align ownership interests.
• Tax checklist: project your 2025 AGI, evaluate SALT timing, aggregate deductible items, and log eligible overtime and tip income to secure new OBBBA deductions at filing.
• Charitable strategy: if you itemize in 2025, consider bunching gifts now; some giving rules change in 2026, so front-loading may preserve current-law advantages.
Need help? Call us at (661) 945-5868 to schedule a consultation with one of our board-certified estate planning or tax specialist attorneys or join one of our free estate planning seminars to learn more before the holidays.