Category: Trusts & Estates

A widower’s estate lost about $3.7 million of federal exemption last summer because his late wife’s Form 706 listed her property and left every value blank. That is Estate of Rowland v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2025-76 (July 15, 2025): a return filed for no reason except portability is still held to the completeness standard in Treas. Reg. § 20.2010-2(a)(7).

In California that runs into a common assumption. The state has no estate tax, and community property gets a full basis step-up at the first death under 26 U.S.C. § 1014(b)(6), the survivor’s own half included. Both true, and neither touches the exemption the survivor will need later.

Short answer: if a couple’s community estate approaches half the federal basic exclusion amount, $15,000,000 for deaths in 2026, file at the first death, and prepare the return as though the IRS will read every schedule.

What did the Tax Court actually hold in Estate of Rowland?

Fay Rowland died in April 2016, her husband Billy in January 2018. No return was required, but her executor filed one to elect portability, six months late, though inside the two-year window then allowed by Rev. Proc. 2017-34. The return listed real property, closely held stock, and bank accounts, entered “$0” for each category, reported $3 million as the estimated value of assets subject to the special rule, and claimed a DSUE amount of $3,712,562.

Her trust gave twenty percent to a family charitable foundation, gave Billy one-fourth of her gross estate, and poured the residue into trusts for grandchildren. Treas. Reg. § 20.2010-2(a)(7)(ii) lets an executor describe rather than value marital and charitable deduction property, but not where that value “relates to, affects, or is needed to determine, the value passing from the decedent to a recipient other than the recipient of the marital or charitable deduction property.”

The grandchildren took the residue, so those figures controlled. Chief Judge Urda granted partial summary judgment to the Commissioner and turned away both substantial compliance and equitable estoppel.

Doesn’t California community property already take care of this?

It takes care of a different tax. Section 1014(b)(6) gives a new basis to the surviving spouse’s half of the community, not just the decedent’s, so long as at least half the community interest was includible in the decedent’s gross estate. That is an income tax rule about a later sale. Portability is a transfer tax rule, and 26 U.S.C. § 2010(c)(5)(A) gives the survivor none of the DSUE amount defined in § 2010(c)(4) unless the executor “files an estate tax return on which such amount is computed and makes an election on such return.”

No state tax makes this worse. California’s estate tax at Rev. & Tax. Code § 13302 is a pick-up tax pegged to the federal credit for state death taxes, gone since January 1, 2005, and the State Controller says no California estate tax return has been required since. A gross estate under the exclusion means no federal return is required under § 6018(a). Not required and not worth filing are different things.

How long does a California surviving spouse have to fix a missed election?

Nine months from death, plus six more if a Form 4768 goes in on time. The automatic extension comes from Treas. Reg. § 20.6081-1(b) under 26 U.S.C. § 6081, and Treas. Reg. § 20.2010-2(a)(1) ties the election to that date.

After that, Rev. Proc. 2022-32 is the rescue. Effective July 8, 2022, it lets an executor file by the fifth anniversary of death if the decedent was a citizen or resident who died after December 31, 2010 survived by a spouse, the estate was not required to file under § 6018(a), and no timely return went in. The return must carry a statement at the top: “FILED PURSUANT TO REV. PROC. 2022-32 TO ELECT PORTABILITY UNDER § 2010(c)(5)(A).”

If the gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts turns out to have exceeded the exclusion, the relief is null and void ab initio, leaving only a § 9100 letter ruling. Section 4.01 also demands a “complete and properly prepared Form 706” under Treas. Reg. § 20.2010-2(a)(7), the sentence the court applied in Rowland. A late return that is still wrong buys nothing.

What goes on a portability-only Form 706 when the estate is community property?

Only the decedent’s half. Cal. Fam. Code § 760 makes property acquired during marriage while domiciled here community property, and Cal. Prob. Code § 100(a) provides that on death “one-half of the community property belongs to the surviving spouse and the other one-half belongs to the decedent.” The survivor’s half stays outside the gross estate and still takes a new basis, so the return still has to show the property was community.

The estimate rule can apply here, and often does when everything pours into a survivor’s trust. Subparagraph (a)(7)(ii) lets the executor describe marital and charitable property without valuing it, so long as the executor uses due diligence to estimate the gross estate and reports the matching range from the Instructions for Form 706 under penalties of perjury.

The exceptions catch California trusts. The rule is off the table when a value affects what a non-spouse, non-charitable beneficiary receives, when it is needed for § 2032 or § 2032A or another estate or generation-skipping provision, when only a partial interest qualifies, or on a partial disclaimer or QTIP election. A formula bypass share, a disclaimer trust, a QTIP marital trust, or a carve-out for children of a prior marriage lands on the Rowland side of that line.

What does “complete” mean for a house and a closely held business?

Date-of-death fair market value, asset by asset, on the right schedule. The home goes on Schedule A with a real appraisal. S corporation stock goes on Schedule B with an actual valuation and discounts that are supported, not asserted. Where a value is genuinely hard to pin down, the answer is a defensible estimate with the methodology in the file, not a blank.

The return does two jobs: it elects portability, and it is the contemporaneous record behind the stepped-up basis the survivor claims on a later sale. There is a fiduciary dimension too: a trustee who lets the nine months lapse, or signs a return with zeros in the value column, hands the surviving spouse a claim to weigh against the preparer or the fiduciary.

What does this look like for a Redlands couple with a $9 million community estate?

Assume a Redlands couple, all community property: a home in the historic district at $1.4 million, a Riverside fourplex at $1.6 million, stock in their HVAC S corporation at $4.5 million, and $1.5 million in retirement, brokerage, and cash. He dies in March 2026 and it all stays in trust for her. The figures are illustrative; future indexing is unknown, so the example freezes the exclusion at 2026.

His gross estate is his half, $4.5 million, and the marital deduction takes his taxable estate to zero, so the DSUE is the full $15,000,000 and her applicable exclusion becomes $30,000,000. Separately, all $9 million takes a new basis under section 1014(b)(6).

Say she dies in 2036 and assets grew 7 percent a year, taking $9 million to roughly $17.7 million. With no return ever filed, her exclusion is $15 million, her taxable estate about $2.7 million, and the tax at the 40 percent top rate under 26 U.S.C. § 2001(c) runs about $1,080,000. A return filed but defective the way Fay Rowland’s was produces the identical number, found long after the Rev. Proc. 2022-32 window closed. With a complete return, the tax is zero.

Does remarriage change the DSUE amount?

Not by itself. Treas. Reg. § 20.2010-3 makes the available DSUE that of the surviving spouse’s last deceased spouse, and a decedent keeps that status “even if, on the date of the death of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse is married to another (then-living) individual.” A Temecula widow who remarries in 2029 still has her first husband’s DSUE.

The new spouse dying first is what changes it. If his executor makes no election, the earlier DSUE is gone except to the extent it “was applied to one or more taxable gifts of the surviving spouse.” Where remarriage is likely, spend the DSUE on lifetime gifts. Divorce is not the danger: the later death of a divorced spouse does not end the prior spouse’s status.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to file a Form 706 in California if there is no California estate tax?

Nothing at the state level: California has required no estate tax return for deaths on or after January 1, 2005. Federally, no return is required if the gross estate is under the basic exclusion amount, $15,000,000 for deaths in 2026. Filing anyway is the only way to capture the unused exclusion.

Does California’s community property step-up make portability unnecessary?

No. Section 1014(b)(6) gives both halves of community property a new income tax basis at the first death, which reduces capital gain on a later sale. Portability under section 2010(c) concerns the federal estate tax exemption at the second death. Only the basis adjustment happens without paperwork.

What did the Tax Court decide in Estate of Rowland?

In Estate of Rowland v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2025-76 (July 15, 2025), the court held that a return filed purely to preserve a spouse’s exemption still must meet the completeness standard of Treasury Regulation section 20.2010-2(a)(7). It listed assets but reported zero values, and percentage gifts to a spouse, a foundation, and grandchildren put the reduced reporting rule out of reach, so about $3.7 million of exclusion was lost.

How long do I have if we missed the portability deadline?

Revenue Procedure 2022-32 allows an executor to file a complete and properly prepared Form 706 by the fifth anniversary of the decedent’s death, provided the estate was not required to file under section 6018(a) and no timely return went in. The return must say at the top that it is filed pursuant to that procedure. After that, the only route is a private letter ruling.

Does remarriage affect the DSUE?

Remarrying does not by itself cost the surviving spouse anything, because under Treasury Regulation section 20.2010-3 a decedent stays the last deceased spouse even if the survivor is married to someone else at death. The risk is the new spouse dying first, which wipes out the earlier DSUE except to the extent already applied to taxable gifts.

What if the estate has assets that are hard to value, like a closely held business?

Hard to value does not mean exempt from valuation. The executor must exercise due diligence and report a supportable date-of-death figure, or, where the reduced reporting rule applies, a good-faith estimate within the range in the Instructions for Form 706. An appraisal and a business valuation protect both the election and the later basis claim.

How North Star Law Firm Can Help

North Star Law Firm prepares and reviews portability returns for Inland Empire and Sacramento-area families, including late elections under Rev. Proc. 2022-32, and handles the trust side through trust administration, trust and estate tax returns, and revocable living trust planning. Phillip Zagotti is a California attorney and a CPA admitted to the United States Tax Court, so valuation and controversy exposure are weighed together.

If your spouse died within the last five years and no estate tax return was filed, or one was filed and you are not sure it was done right, contact North Star Law Firm or schedule a consultation.

A living trust signed in 2012 was drafted for a world with a $5.12 million federal estate tax exemption, a parent-child property tax exclusion that covered rentals, and an IRA “stretch” that let a child draw an inherited account down over a lifetime. If you own a home in Redlands, Temecula, or Roseville and your trust binder has not been opened in a decade, the plan inside is still valid, but it no longer does what you think it does.

Is the property actually in the trust?

The most common failure in California trust administration is an unfunded trust. A trust only controls assets titled in the trustee’s name, and title drifts, usually at a refinance: the lender requires the house to be deeded out of the trust to close, and nobody deeds it back.

Under Probate Code § 850, a trustee or interested person can petition the probate court for an order that property held in the decedent’s individual name belongs to the trust. The petition takes its nickname from Estate of Heggstad, 16 Cal.App.4th 943 (1993), where the First District held that a settlor’s written declaration that he held listed property as trustee brought it into the trust without a deed: “a declaration by the settlor that he holds the property in trust for another, alone, is sufficient.”

The petition works best when the trust’s asset schedule lists the property, and it still means months in the Riverside or San Bernardino probate court.

What if the estate is small enough to skip probate anyway?

For deaths on or after April 1, 2025, Probate Code § 13100 lets successors collect property by affidavit when the probate estate is $208,850 or less, next adjusted April 1, 2028. AB 2016 also rewrote Probate Code § 13151 so a decedent’s California primary residence worth up to $750,000 can pass by a simplified petition rather than a full probate.

The $750,000 is gross value with no deduction for the mortgage, it covers only the primary residence, and median prices in Rancho Cucamonga and Corona already exceed it.

How did Prop 19 change what your children inherit?

Before February 16, 2021, a parent could pass any California real property to a child without reassessment. Proposition 19, implemented in Revenue and Taxation Code § 63.2, limits the exclusion to the family home (and family farm), and only if the child moves in and claims the homeowners’ exemption within one year. Even then, it covers the parent’s taxable value plus a cap the Board of Equalization sets at $1,044,586 for transfers from February 16, 2025 through February 15, 2027.

So a 2012 plan’s assumption that “the kids will keep the rental” now carries a reassessment to full market value at the parent’s death, and a review is the moment to decide whether to sell, restructure, or budget for it.

Why does an attorney-CPA care how the deed reads?

Under 26 U.S.C. § 1014(b)(6), when one spouse dies, both halves of community property receive a new basis equal to fair market value. Joint tenancy property, or one spouse’s separate property, gets a step-up on only the decedent’s share. A Yucaipa rental bought for $280,000 in 2005 and worth $620,000 today carries a $340,000 built-in gain. As community property, the survivor can sell it the next year with almost no taxable gain; as joint tenancy, roughly $170,000 of gain survives.

California lets spouses hold title as community property with right of survivorship under Civil Code § 682.1, which passes the property to the survivor without administration while preserving community character for basis.

Does the $15 million exemption mean the estate tax is over?

Pub. L. 119-21 amended 26 U.S.C. § 2010(c) to set the basic exclusion at $15,000,000 for decedents dying after 2025, indexed thereafter, and the IRS confirmed the figure in its tax year 2026 inflation adjustments. There is no sunset, and California has no estate tax.

Two cautions. Many trusts from the 2000s contain a mandatory “A-B” split written when the exemption was $1 or $2 million. At the first death that formula locks the survivor’s half into an irrevocable subtrust with its own Form 1041 and no second basis step-up, all cost and no benefit for a family under the exemption. And portability is not automatic: the survivor keeps the deceased spouse’s unused exclusion only if an executor files Form 706 and elects it. Rev. Proc. 2022-32 allows a late election up to five years after death for estates not otherwise required to file.

Are the beneficiary forms still consistent with the plan?

Retirement accounts pass by beneficiary form, and the rules changed in 2020. Under 26 U.S.C. § 401(a)(9)(H), most non-spouse beneficiaries must empty an inherited IRA within ten years. Treasury’s final regulations, effective January 1, 2025, add annual distributions in years one through nine if the owner had reached required beginning date. A 2012 “conduit” trust meant to stretch payouts over a child’s lifetime now forces the whole account out within a decade.

Divorce is the other trap. Probate Code § 6122 revokes will provisions favoring a former spouse once the marriage is dissolved, and Probate Code § 5040 does the same for revocable nonprobate transfers such as trust gifts and pay-on-death accounts. Neither reaches life insurance or a 401(k) form, and a legal separation triggers neither.

What should a Redlands couple with a 2012 trust actually do?

Take a hypothetical Redlands couple, both 72, with a June 2012 joint trust. They own their home (about $780,000), the Yucaipa rental above (assessed at roughly $340,000), and a $900,000 IRA in the husband’s name payable to the trust. Their only child lives in Dallas, and the wife’s sister, 81, is successor trustee. A 2019 refinance took the rental out of the trust and it never went back.

If the husband dies in 2027 with nothing updated, the rental sits outside the trust, so the wife needs a Heggstad petition before she can sell or refinance. The A-B split diverts half the estate into an irrevocable subtrust for no tax reason. The IRA must be emptied within ten years, if the trust even qualifies as a see-through trust. At the wife’s later death the rental is reassessed from $340,000 to $620,000 or more, nearly doubling the property tax the Dallas child pays to keep it, and the sister, then in her mid-80s, is asked to administer everything. If she declines and no one else is named, Probate Code § 15660 sends the beneficiaries to court for an appointed trustee.

A 2026 restatement fixes each item: a deed returning the rental to the trust, a disclaimer option instead of the mandatory split, an IRA form naming the child directly, retitling as community property with right of survivorship, the child as successor trustee with a professional backup, and a fresh advance health care directive on the current Probate Code § 4701 form plus a durable power of attorney naming an agent still willing to serve. Couples who moved from a common-law state such as Colorado or Oregon should add a community property agreement, since property earned there does not automatically get the double step-up.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should a California living trust be reviewed?

Every three to five years, and immediately after a marriage, divorce, death of a beneficiary or fiduciary, a real estate purchase or refinance, a move into or out of California, or a major federal tax change. Trusts signed before 2021 should be reviewed now because Prop 19, the ten-year IRA rule, and the $15 million federal exemption all postdate them.

What is a Heggstad petition and when do I need one?

A Heggstad petition is a request under Probate Code § 850 asking the probate court to declare that an asset titled in a decedent’s individual name actually belongs to the decedent’s trust. It is used when property was never deeded into the trust or was deeded out during a refinance and not returned. Success usually depends on the trust’s asset schedule or a general assignment listing the property.

Does Prop 19 apply to a rental property I leave to my kids?

Yes. Since February 16, 2021, the parent-child reassessment exclusion in Revenue and Taxation Code § 63.2 covers only a family home that the child occupies as a principal residence (and a family farm). A rental, commercial building, or vacant lot is reassessed to market value when it passes to a child, however the transfer happens.

Is portability of the estate tax exemption automatic in California?

No. The surviving spouse receives the deceased spouse’s unused federal exclusion only if an executor files Form 706 and elects it, normally within nine months of death. Rev. Proc. 2022-32 permits a late election up to five years after death for estates not otherwise required to file.

Does divorce automatically remove my ex-spouse from my trust?

In most cases, yes. Probate Code § 5040 causes a revocable nonprobate transfer to a former spouse to fail once the marriage is dissolved, and Probate Code § 6122 does the same for will provisions. The statutes do not reach life insurance, federally governed retirement plans, or irrevocable transfers, and a legal separation does not trigger them, so those designations must be changed by hand.

What happens to an IRA that names an old trust as beneficiary?

If the trust qualifies as a see-through trust, the account must generally be emptied within ten years of the owner’s death under 26 U.S.C. § 401(a)(9)(H), with annual distributions in the interim if the owner had reached required beginning date. If the trust does not qualify, the payout can be compressed to five years. Trusts drafted before 2020 often lack the right language.

How North Star Law Firm Can Help

North Star Law Firm reviews and restates existing California estate plans, prepares revocable living trusts, wills, powers of attorney, and health care directives, files Heggstad petitions and handles trust administration after a death, and prepares the Form 706 and fiduciary income tax returns a plan generates. Phillip Zagotti is a California attorney and a CPA, so one review covers the deeds, the beneficiary forms, and the tax consequences together.

If your trust predates 2021, or any event in the table above has happened since it was signed, schedule a review at calendly.com/pzagotti-ca-legal/30min or through the contact page.

The first day anyone could put money into a Trump account was July 4, 2026, and grandparents across the Inland Empire are asking the same two questions: should we put money in, and what does California think of it? Until this summer, the second answer was unfriendly. The Franchise Tax Board’s conformity table, last updated in April, said California didn’t follow the federal Trump account rules at all. Then the Legislature passed SB 180, a tax budget trailer bill chaptered on July 13, 2026 as Chapter 85 of the Statutes of 2026, which generally conforms state law to the federal treatment of these accounts for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026. That changes the planning math for California families, and it makes the gift tax details and the control-at-18 question more important than the state tax question.

What is a Trump account?

Internal Revenue Code § 530A, added by the 2025 federal tax law, creates a special individual retirement account for a child under 18 who has a Social Security number. Until January 1 of the year the child turns 18, the account can hold only low-cost funds tracking a U.S. equity index, and no distributions are allowed. Regular contributions, from parents, grandparents, friends, and employers combined, are capped at $5,000 per year, a figure indexed for inflation after 2027. Some contributions don’t count against that limit, including the one-time $1,000 federal pilot deposit under § 6434 for U.S. citizen children born from 2025 through 2028, and certain general contributions from governments and charities. Parents claim the pilot deposit by election on IRS Form 4547 or through trumpaccounts.gov.

Contributions aren’t deductible. After-tax contributions from family members create basis, so they come back tax-free, while the pilot deposit, employer contributions, and all of the growth are taxed when withdrawn. Once the growth period ends, the account generally works like a traditional IRA in the child’s name. Employers can contribute up to $2,500 per employee under § 128, and Treasury published proposed rules for those employer programs on August 11, 2026, with comments due September 25.

How does California tax Trump accounts after SB 180?

California doesn’t adopt federal tax changes automatically. Its conformity date under Revenue and Taxation Code § 17024.5 was January 1, 2025, which is why the FTB’s summary of federal changes originally said the state didn’t conform. Without conformity, earnings inside the account could have been taxable to the family every year, the way California still treats health savings accounts. The Assembly Budget Committee’s June 27, 2026 floor report described SB 180 as conforming state law to the favorable federal treatment of these children’s accounts “for ease of taxpayer compliance,” and the enacted bill applies beginning with the 2026 tax year.

For most families, that means the account grows without annual California tax and is taxed on withdrawal, as it is federally. California’s usual additional tax on early retirement account withdrawals is 2.5% under § 17085(c), rather than the federal 10%. Two cautions apply. The FTB hasn’t yet updated its published guidance, and the Employment Development Department hasn’t said how employer contributions should be treated for state wage reporting. Employers setting up contribution programs should confirm their payroll provider’s California treatment before the first deposit.

Do grandparents need to file a gift tax return?

Usually not, if they stay inside the safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2026-25. A gift to a minor’s account that can’t be touched until 18 would normally be a gift of a future interest, which doesn’t qualify for the annual exclusion. The revenue procedure lets individuals treat cash Trump account contributions as present-interest gifts eligible for the $19,000 annual exclusion for 2026, with no Form 709, but only if several conditions hold. The donor must be an individual, the only taxable gifts must be cash Trump account contributions, the donor’s total gifts to that beneficiary for the year can’t exceed $19,000, no gift or generation-skipping transfer tax can result, and no gift tax return can be required or filed for any other purpose. If the donor goes over the limit or files a 709 anyway, the contributions have to be reported as future-interest gifts.

That last condition creates a trap for families who also fund college savings. A grandparent who “superfunds” a ScholarShare 529 plan by electing to spread a large gift over five years must file a Form 709 in the first year, and when the ratable amount in each later year uses the full $19,000 exclusion, that grandparent’s Trump account contributions fall outside the safe harbor for the rest of the five-year window too. Nothing may be owed, given the $15 million federal exemption, but the reporting obligation returns every year.

California’s community property rules help married grandparents. The Form 709 instructions treat a gift of community property as made half by each spouse, so a Riverside couple can give $38,000 of community funds to one grandchild without the gift-splitting election that would itself require a return.

Who controls the money when the child turns 18?

The child does, and that’s the question families should spend the most time on. Under the proposed regulations Treasury issued in March 2026, the child owns the account, and a “responsible party,” chosen in priority order starting with a legal guardian and then a parent, manages it until the growth period ends. After that, the young adult can withdraw funds, subject to income tax on the taxable portion and federal and California early-withdrawal additional taxes unless an IRA exception like higher education expenses applies. There’s no way to name a trustee to hold the money until age 25 or 30.

California’s Uniform Transfers to Minors Act offers slightly more control, but less than many people assume. A custodian normally transfers the property at 18, and Probate Code § 3920.5 allows a later date. A lifetime gift can be held only until 21, while a transfer under a will or trust can be held until 25. A trust is still the only tool that lets a family decide how long money stays protected, what it can be used for, and who steps in if something goes wrong.

What does a sensible plan look like for a Riverside family?

Consider grandparents in Riverside with two grandchildren, one born in March 2025 and one in May 2026. The parents make the pilot elections, so each child receives the $1,000 federal deposit, and neither parent’s employer contributes. In 2026 the grandparents contribute $5,000 of community funds to each child’s Trump account, using that child’s full annual family limit, and put the remaining exclusion, $33,000 per grandchild, into ScholarShare accounts without a five-year election. That’s $76,000 of gifts with no gift tax return.

If they keep contributing $5,000 a year to the younger child’s account through 2043 and the account earns 7% a year (treating each contribution as made at the start of the year for simplicity), it would hold about $185,000 when the growth period ends, on $91,000 of total contributions. The $90,000 the grandparents put in is basis. The pilot deposit and all of the growth would be taxable when withdrawn, for both federal and California purposes. Those figures are illustrations, not projections, but they show why the question of who controls a six-figure account at 18 deserves as much thought as the tax treatment.

What about children with disabilities or families who may need public benefits?

The Social Security Administration’s program manual, at POMS SI 01120.250, says a Trump account isn’t counted as a resource for Supplemental Security Income while the child is in the growth period, but becomes countable after 18. For a child with a disability, that makes the timing of the one-time rollover to an ABLE account important; the federal statute permits a rollover in the year the child turns 17. Families in that situation should plan the account alongside a special needs trust rather than in isolation. Medi-Cal’s reinstated asset test, effective January 1, 2026, applies only to certain non-MAGI programs, and the state hasn’t issued guidance addressing Trump accounts.

One more estate planning detail: if a child dies before the growth period ends, § 530A(d)(6) treats the account’s value above basis as taxable income to the person who receives it, or to the child’s final return if the estate takes it. That’s a small risk, but it’s another reason to coordinate beneficiary designations and trust planning with these accounts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does California tax Trump accounts?

SB 180, enacted in July 2026, generally conforms California to the federal treatment starting with the 2026 tax year, so growth isn’t taxed annually and withdrawals are taxed when made. The FTB hasn’t yet updated its published guidance.

How much can a grandparent contribute to a grandchild’s Trump account?

Total contributions from family and friends are capped at $5,000 per child per year. The $1,000 federal pilot deposit and certain government or charitable contributions don’t count against that limit.

Do I need to file a gift tax return for a Trump account contribution?

Not if you meet Revenue Procedure 2026-25: cash contributions only, total gifts to that child of $19,000 or less for 2026, and no other reason to file a Form 709 that year.

Can a trust own a Trump account or hold it until the child is older?

No. The child owns the account, and a responsible party manages it only until the growth period ends at 18. A trust funded separately is the way to control money past that age.

Does a Trump account affect SSI eligibility?

According to Social Security’s program manual, the account isn’t a countable resource for SSI during the growth period but becomes countable after the child turns 18.

Which children get the $1,000 federal deposit?

U.S. citizen children with Social Security numbers born after December 31, 2024 and before January 1, 2029, if a parent or other eligible person makes the election.

How North Star Law Firm Can Help

North Star Law Firm helps California families fit new savings tools into an estate plan, including trusts that control money after 18, gifting strategies that avoid unnecessary gift tax filings, and planning for children with disabilities. Phillip Zagotti is a California attorney and a CPA and co-author of Trusted: The Essential Guide for Trustees. Learn more about the firm’s revocable living trust work, its special needs and Medi-Cal planning, and its trust and estate tax return services, or schedule a consultation to review a grandchild gifting plan.