Elder Law Review November 2025: Year-End Elder Law & Estate Planning Checklist

A Practical Guide for Families as 2026 Approaches

By Ronald Fatoullah, Esq.

As 2025 winds down, it is a good time to ask a simple question: If something happened to me tomorrow, would my legal and financial house be in order?

For many people, the honest answer is “not really.” The end of the year is the perfect time to clean things up and focus on needed planning, especially with new tax rules for charitable giving taking effect in 2026.

Here is a basic and simple checklist you can use yourself or share with family and friends.

1. If You Have No Estate Planning Documents, Make Early 2026 Your Deadline

If you do not have a living trust, last will and testament, power of attorney, health care proxy, and a living will, you are relying on state law and overburdened courts to sort things out if you become ill or pass away.

If you are over fifty-five or living with a chronic illness, it is especially important to speak with an elder law attorney about Medicaid and long-term care planning and the possibility of using a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT). Remember: Medicaid nursing home eligibility has a five-year lookback on gifts and transfers.

2. If You Do Have Estate Planning Documents, Ask: “Do They Still Reflect My Wishes?”

If your documents are more than five years old, or if there has been a birth, death, marriage, divorce, or estrangement, it is time to review:

• Fiduciaries – Are your chosen executors, trustees, and agents still the right people for the job?
• Beneficiaries – Are the beneficiaries listed in your will, living trust, retirement accounts and other accounts still the people you want to provide for?
• Trusts – Does anyone named no longer need a trust because, for example, they are now mature and responsible? Conversely, does someone now need a trust because of poor spending habits, addiction issues, a shaky marriage, or creditor concerns?

A quick review now can prevent major family problems later on.

3. Check All Beneficiary Designations

Many people are surprised to learn that beneficiary forms override wills. This means the people named as beneficiaries on your:

• IRAs and 401(k)s
• Life insurance policies
• Annuities
• TOD and POD accounts
• Bank and brokerage accounts

will get those assets directly, even if your will says something different. Year-end is a suitable time to confirm that these designations match your current wishes.

4. Annual Exclusion Gifts: 2025 and 2026

For 2025, the annual exclusion gift is $19,000 per person, per calendar year. A married couple can give up to $38,000 per person by “splitting” gifts. 

The IRS has already announced that the annual exclusion will stay at $19,000 in 2026, so there is no increase next year. 

A few key points:

• These gifts are free of federal gift tax up to the annual amount.
• Larger gifts may require a gift tax return but usually just use part of your lifetime exemption ($15 Million for federal gift and estate tax purposes in 2026).
• For Medicaid purposes, even annual exclusion gifts are not exempt and are treated as gifts and can cause a penalty if you apply for nursing home Medicaid within the five-year lookback. This pertains to taxpayers who itemize their deductions.

So annual gifting can be an excellent planning tool, but if long-term care is a concern, it should be done as part of an overall elder law strategy.

5. Charitable Giving: Why 2025 Is Special

The new One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA) signed in 2025 brings important changes to charitable deductions starting January 1, 2026. 

Beginning in 2026:

• There will be a new 0.5% of AGI “floor” – your charitable gifts are only deductible to the extent they exceed 0.5% of your adjusted gross income (for example, if your AGI is $200,000, the first $1,000 of giving each year is not deductible).
• The ability to deduct cash gifts up to 60% of AGI to public charities becomes permanent, which is good news for larger donors.
• High-income taxpayers (taxpayers at the highest income bracket) face a cap on the value of their deductions (roughly thirty-five cents of tax benefit per dollar donated).
• Non-itemizers will have a small above-the-line deduction (up to $1,000 single / $2,000 married) for certain cash gifts to public charities. Historically, such taxpayers could not deduct charitable contributions.

Because of this, many advisors are suggesting that 2025 is a prime year to “bunch” charitable gifts or create a donor-advised fund while the rules are still more favorable and there is no 0.5% floor in place.

6. Have you purchased a property or invested in an asset that has not been transferred into your living trust?

Any property that is not retitled into the name of your living trust will not become a part of that trust. The same is true for bank or brokerage accounts. So, if there are any properties or assets that you have not retitled, make sure that your estate planning/elder law attorney assesses whether or not that property or asset should be transferred into your trust.

7. A Simple Action Plan

Here is a quick year-end roadmap:

1. If you have no estate planning documents: Resolve to meet with an elder law/estate planning attorney early in 2026.
2. If you already have estate planning documents: Review them—especially if they are 5+ years old- to ensure they are complete and reflect your current wishes.
3. Update beneficiaries on retirement accounts, life insurance, financial accounts, etc.
4. Consider gifts: Think about whether gifts make sense for you and your family, whether they be ‘annual exclusion’ gifts, or gifts for Medicaid and long-term care planning.
5. Review charitable giving: Talk to your advisors about whether it makes sense to make extra gifts in 2025 before the new 2026 rules become effective.
6. Make sure that all the properties/assets that you want retitled into the name of your trust have been retitled. But DO NOT transfer the ownership of retirement assets into the name of your living trust without checking with your attorney, as this will create a taxable event.

The attorneys in the Elder Law Practice Group at Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone, LLP are available to assist in creating and managing every aspect of your estate and long-term care planning.

Ronald Fatoullah, Esq. Chairs the firm’s Elder Law Practice Group and is a Partner of the firm’s Trusts & Estates Practice Group.

This blog posting is for informational and educational purposes only. It is general in nature and not person or circumstance specific. This blog posting is not intended, nor should it be construed as rendering independent investment, legal or tax advice. It may but does not necessarily constitute attorney advertising.