Your Guide to GRATs: A Tax-Savvy Trust to Leverage Before 2026

Find Out the Advantages of Setting Up GRATs Now, Ahead of Sunsetting Estate Tax Exemptions

Grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) may offer some distinct advantages if you set them up before Dec. 31, 2025. That’s because federal estate tax exemptions and gift tax exclusions will be sunsetting on January 1, 2026, if the laws don’t change between now and then. 

If or when that happens, millions of dollars in available exemptions could disappear. 

If you know what’s coming and you’ve planned ahead, you could be sitting pretty a couple of years from now, with all your ducks in a row and some tax-savvy trusts, like GRATs, already set up to protect and advance your interests. 

On the other hand, if you ignore it all, you could miss out on the chance to do more with GRATs before federal estate tax exemptions change. That could leave you with higher tax bills. It may even make Uncle Sam one of your biggest beneficiaries. 

To find out how — and how to stop that from happening while there’s still time — you can get up to speed in about 2 minutes with these GRAT FAQs:

How 5 Trusts Can Help You Ahead of the 2026 Estate Tax Exemption Changes

One or More of These Trusts Could Offer You Several Advantages, Especially by 2026. See What May Be Right for You.

The moves you make or don’t make in the next couple of years could critically change your estate tax liabilities. That’s because sunsetting tax laws are set to cut current estate tax exemptions roughly in half on January 1, 2026, assuming no new tax laws are passed first (July 2025 Update: A new law has permanently raised estate tax exemptions to $15 million in 2026).

If you think that’s a problem for your heirs to worry about, think again. 

The changing exclusions apply to federal estate taxes and gift taxes, meaning they could affect large gifts made during your lifetime and:

1. They could subject you to much greater tax liabilities if you haven’t taken the right steps ahead of time.
   
2. It’s not too late to get up to speed with what’s happening, figure out your options, and put some prudent strategies in place now.

To that end, let’s walk through five trusts that can offer powerful flexibility and solutions to prepare for the 2026 estate tax exemption change. Those trusts include: 

1. Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs)
2. Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs)
3. Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGTs)
4. Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs)
5. Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs)