Estate Planning Lawyer Definitions: Inter Vivos

This is a little segment I’m going to do called “Estate Planning Lawyer Definitions.”

It’s easy for us to throw around terms all the time and expect people to know what they mean when in fact they should have no real reason to know.

I want to end all of the confusion.

Each week I’m going to define a term for you.

This week we’re defining the word “inter vivos.”

Inter vivos is latin. The direct translation is “between the living.” This makes sense because in the estate planning context, inter vivos refers to a gift made to someone while you are still alive.

For example, if you are someone with a relatively high net worth and you want to give some of your money away to reduce your estate tax exposure you can give away up to $14,000 per year (in 2016) to as many people as you want.

Each of these gifts would be called an inter vivos gift.

It is also used in the contexts of trust. An inter vivos trust is one that someone creates while they are alive.

Hope this helped!

Cheers,

Christopher Small

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Christopher Small is a Kirkland estate planning attorney who helps people get rich and live forever. He is also the owner of CMS Law Firm LLC.