Overlooked areas of estate planning include a more global view of one's distribution goals and a plan for the possibility of being incapacitated. Distribution goals must take into account the fact that the world will not be the same on the date of death as it is on eve of planning. Estate planning for philatelic material requires an inventory, valuation, cost basis and clearly delineated goals for the retention or liquidation of the material. The plan must take into account how the material is owned, whether separately or jointly. If the material is owned jointly, what form of joint ownership and what are the implications for estate planning purposes.
Estate planning requires consideration of the value of the entire estate and gifts prior to death.
Lifetime gifts over exclusionary amounts must be included in the total for estate and gift tax purposes. There is also a marital exclusion which is unlimited for citizen spouses. There is an unlimited marital exclusion for citizen spouses. Gifts during life are often used to reduce estate taxes. The tax basis for the subsequent sale of a gift by the donee is the cost basis of the donor, simply speaking the amount paid for the item, unless that would create a loss, in which case the basis is considered to be the fair market value of the item.