2026 Estate Tax Exemption Sunset: What Las Vegas Millionaires Need to Do Before December 31, 2025

The clock is ticking louder than a roulette wheel on New Year’s Eve.

On January 1, 2026, the federal estate and gift tax lifetime exemption will be cut roughly in half unless Congress acts — an event most Capitol Hill observers consider unlikely before the 2028 election cycle. For Las Vegas residents whose net worth currently sits between $7 million and $14 million (individuals) or $14 million to $28 million (married couples), this isn’t just a Washington headline. It’s a five-alarm fire for family wealth.

The Numbers Tell the Story

Under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the exemption was temporarily doubled and indexed for inflation. For 2025, the IRS has set the figure at $13.99 million per person — effectively $27.98 million for a married couple. On December 31, 2025, that sunsets to approximately $7 million per person (adjusted for inflation from the pre-2018 base of $5.49 million). Most projections place the 2026 number between $7.0 and $7.2 million per individual.

Translation: A married Las Vegas couple with a $25 million estate that is completely tax-free today could face a federal estate tax bill of approximately $7.2 million in 2026 — a 40% bite on every dollar over the new threshold.

Why Las Vegas Residents Are Uniquely Exposed

Southern Nevada has quietly become one of the wealthiest pockets in America. A decade of California and New York exodus, skyrocketing real estate, hospitality equity roll-ups, and crypto and tech windfalls have minted more millionaires per capita than almost anywhere outside Manhattan and Silicon Valley. Many of these new residents:

• Still hold low-basis California or out-of-state assets (primary homes, commercial buildings, concentrated stock positions)
• Own multiple Las Vegas luxury properties purchased during the 2020–2024 boom
• Have never paid federal estate tax in their lives and assume Nevada’s zero state estate tax means they’re “safe”

That assumption expires in 26 days.

Five Action Items Before Year-End 2025

1. Max Out Lifetime Gifting Every dollar gifted in 2025 uses the $13.99 million exemption. Gifts completed by December 31 lock in today’s higher number even if the donor dies years later. Popular strategies in Las Vegas right now include gifting fractional interests in LLCs that own investment properties, directing gifts into irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), and funding 529 plans for grandchildren (Nevada allows five years of annual gifts to be front-loaded).
2. Create or Super-Fund a Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT) One spouse gifts assets into an irrevocable trust for the benefit of the other spouse (and ultimately children). The gifting spouse loses direct access but retains indirect benefit while removing future appreciation from both estates. SLATs have exploded in popularity among Las Vegas entrepreneurs and real estate invest..ors this year.
3. Deploy Nevada Asset Protection Trusts with Swap Powers Nevada remains one of only four states that allow true domestic self-settled asset protection trusts. When structured with “swap” or “exchange” powers, the settlor can substitute low-basis assets for cash or high-basis assets in a future year, effectively freezing the estate tax value today while keeping investment flexibility.
4. Accelerate Charitable Lead Trusts (CLATs) or Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) With interest rates still elevated (the December 2025 Section 7520 rate will be announced mid-November), GRATs and CLATs remain extraordinarily efficient. A two- or three-year GRAT funded before year-end can move substantial Las Vegas real estate appreciation to the next generation estate-tax-free.
5. Simply Die in 2025 (Kidding… Mostly) Dark humor aside, the step-up in basis at death combined with today’s high exemption makes 2025 an oddly attractive year for terminally ill high-net-worth individuals to let nature take its course rather than face a 40% tax later. Estate planners are having these conversations more often than the public realizes.

What Happens if You Do Nothing?

If Congress does nothing — the current baseline scenario — the exemption drops at 12:01 a.m. on January 1, 2026. Gifts made in 2026 and beyond will use the lower exemption, and any appreciation after that date on assets you still own will be fully exposed. There is no clawback for gifts properly completed in 2018–2025 (the IRS finalized anti-clawback regulations in 2022), so acting now is a one-way door.

The Political Wildcard

Divided government and election-year paralysis make extension or modification before 2026 extremely unlikely. Even if a future Congress retroactively restores the higher exemption, most experts believe the reinstatement would only apply to estates of decedents dying after the new legislation — meaning the 2026–2028 window would still trigger tax for anyone who passes away in that period.

Don’t Try This at Home

Year-end planning at this wealth level is not a DIY project. Scrivener’s errors, improper funding, reckless reciprocal SLATs, and IRS “step-transaction” challenges have derailed more rushed plans than anyone wants to admit. Nevada’s community property rules add another layer most out-of-state advisors miss.

Time is the one asset you cannot gift away in 2025.

If you or your clients are in the sunset zone, consult a qualified estate planning attorney immediately. In some cases, the savings literally run eight figures.

For high-net-worth Las Vegas families facing complex trust disputes or litigation after an imperfect rush plan, an experienced Las Vegas trust and estate litigation lawyer can still salvage substantial value — but prevention remains orders of magnitude cheaper than cure.