A Thanksgiving Dinner Conversation Worth Having

It is so easy to lose Thanksgiving in the blur between Halloween and Christmas (at least, this is the case in every store I’ve set foot in since November 1). But when it does come around, this holiday is a great time to take a minute to reflect.

Every year, the week after Thanksgiving is one of our busier stretches. There is something about the beginning of the end of the year that prompts people to call me. Getting the adult kids together around the dinner table can get parents or kids thinking about what-ifs, though many people hesitate to actually bring these things up over turkey.

A lot of those calls I’m going to get that Monday after the holiday are going to be from parents who decided it was finally time to put their wishes in writing, or an adult kid who noticed that dad was just a little bit older than last year. I’m always glad for the ones who reach out to me, but so many people don’t discuss these important issues with their parents or with their kids because they don’t want to think about them.  

But those conversations are a lot easier to have around a table than in a hospital waiting room. If your family is getting together this year, a few things are worth thinking about before the holiday and maybe even bringing up.

• Check who you’ve named. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance pass outside your will. If you married, divorced, or had a child since you last looked, the form on file may not say what you’d want.
• Make sure someone knows where things are. A power of attorney or advance directive only helps if your agent can find it. A short note saying where the originals are kept goes a long way.
• Watch the calendar. In 2026 you can give up to $19,000 per person without using any of your lifetime exemption, and that amount resets on January 1. Gifts you don’t make by December 31 don’t carry over.
• Revisit plans built around the “sunset.” For years, families were told the federal estate tax exemption would drop by about half in 2026. That didn’t happen. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act set the exemption at $15 million per person, indexed for inflation, and made it permanent. If your plan was designed around the expected cut, it may be more complicated than it needs to be. 

None of this has to happen over dinner. But if the subject comes up, let it. If you’d like help sorting through what you hear, give us a call after the holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Frost Law.