T is for TAXES. Because after all, as Benjamin Franklin wrote, the only things certain in life are death and taxes. There are three taxes you usually concern yourself with during your estate planning – Gift Taxes, State Estate Taxes and Federal Estate Taxes. The first and last are not usually a problem these days as they have a high threshold. But each state has its own threshold for taxing estates. In Massachusetts, that threshold is a laughingly low $1 Million Dollars.