<prompt> Human: So my brother passed away a few months ago and he had life insurance. However his ex wife didnt know and she randomly got a check in the mail for 100,000. She wants nothing to do with it and wants to give it to her son who I am the guardian of. What is the best way to go about receiving the money but not the tax burden? Best route 14k every year taking advantage of the gift tax?  <response>: The lifetime gift exemption is over 5MM. Unless shes a multi-millionaire with complicated tax planning, she should just gift it all at once and file Form 709 to elect to use some of her gift tax exemption. No taxes necessary.That said, Id consider checking in with a lawyer before accepting the money; it might make sense for her to put it into a trust with you as the trustee instead of giving it to him directly. Otherwise when he turns 18 he can do whatever he wants with the money - buy a fancy car, whatever. Moreover, if when hes 21 he gives a 20-year-old alcohol and that 20-year-old goes and gets in a car accident, that money is on the line. With a trust you can be as lenient about disbursements as you want to be, but theres a lot of worthwhile protections is provides. 