Thomas Barwick | Digitalvision | Getty ImagesA version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.While many wealthy parents are breathing a sigh of relief over estate tax changes in last year’s tax bill, some are questioning whether they gave too much to their children — and how to get some of it back.Before the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer, the estate tax exemption was set to be cut in half to about $7 million a person at the end of 2025. Many families accelerated gifts to their kids and friends before the deadline in order to take advantage of the higher exemption, which was set during the first Trump administration. Under Trump’s second term, however, the new tax law not only raised the exemption to $15 million but also made it permanent.Lawyers and advisors told Inside Wealth that some parents are now second-guessing their gifts and considering their legal options for potentially clawing some of it back.It’s a somewhat unexpected element of the “great wealth transfer,” with more than $100 trillion expected to flow to heirs through 2048, as estimated by Cerulli Associates.Mark Parthemer of Glenmede said divorce is a common reason for clients to regret transferring vast sums to their kids. Wealthy couples frequently set up spousal lifetime access trusts, or SLATs, to get assets out of their estate but keep indirect access to them through their spouse. After a divorce, the spouse who funded the trust loses the benefit of that cash flow.”We’re now finding the rubber is hitting the road,” said Parthemer, Glenmede’s chief wealth strategist. “There’s a lot of individuals that are just statistically going to find themselves in that scenario.”Parents have a few routes to claw back assets that were already transferred to their children. One option is to take a loan from the trust set up for their children’s benefit, though it can strain family ties.And any route could invite scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service. “I’m always advising parents not to overcommit because yo …
