I wonder how often non-cash items like paintings get reported as gifts.
I have a friend whose mother had a number of very valuable paintings and had the daughters come take the ones they wanted. I wonder if those were reported.
The idea of optimizing with respect to tax brackets seems complicated, but ShawWife and I have recognized that it may not make sense to treat each child the same. We like the idea of splitting equally @RookieCollegeMom but it is not clear who will need or benefit most from money down the road. A child who is doing great financially today may develop a debilitating illness. Another child whose economic prospects today seem weaker may make career choices that produce a much higher income down the road. One choice is to say that we can’t guess about future need so we give equally. We decided to deal with that uncertainty by creating a trust so the decision can come when uncertainties resolve themselves. The beneficiaries of the Trust are ShawWife and me and our progeny. The trustee is told to focus on health, welfare, housing and education, though there is definitely room for latitude. The Trust helped ShawD build her credit when she bought her first car and now is distributing money to help with the renovation of her house. It also purchased a condo that she and a couple of friends rented at market rates from the Trust when she was an undergrad/grad student. The Trust then rented it out to some med students for a few years before selling it at a substantial profit. But, ShawSon and his wife are doing very well financially, but if he were to need a distribution, the Trust would be there for him as well.
One of the other benefits of the trust is that assets in the Trust are not subject to Federal or State estate tax.
I do like what @BKSquared is doing. Does not work for us.