We’d like to begin giving some of our estate away to our children. How can we do that without paying gift taxes?

If you gift money to individuals, whether or not they are related to you, you can give up to $12,000 a year without paying any gift tax or being required to file a gift tax return. And you can give that amount to as many people as you want.

You can gift the same amount to them next year as well, and every year until the $12,000 limit is changed.

You can also give more than $12,000 to any individual in a year, up to a fixed limit. That limit, known as the lifetime federal gift tax exclusion, for any individual is currently $1 million. If you make a gift to anyone in excess of $12,000 in a single year, you must file a federal gift tax return. However, you won’t be subject to any federal gift tax until the total of your gifts exceeds the $1 million federal gift tax exclusion amount.