As a parent, giving your child a large inheritance can seem like a generous gesture. However, there are limits to how much you can give without triggering estate taxes. The IRS sets a yearly limit of $19,000 per individual, and exceeding that amount requires parents to file Form 709.
Wealthy families often find ways to circumvent this rule. One strategy is establishing a trust, which allows parents to control how their assets are used and distributed according to set conditions. For example, a trust can include a spendthrift clause that limits the child’s access to funds or an age-terminating clause that dispenses money at specific ages.
However, not all trusts are created equal as estate-tax-mitigation strategies. Only irrevocable trusts move assets out of a parent’s estate without triggering estate taxes, but the funds must still be below the lifetime exemption threshold to avoid a gift tax.
Source: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/how-is-wealth-transferred-generational-money-kids-children.html