In this study we examine the importance of estate planning and inter-vivos transfers towards the end of life. To that end, we use administrative data on all deaths taking place in the Netherlands between 2006 and 2013. We link these to wealth and income tax records and the hospital discharge register. Employing these unique data we distinguish between sudden and non-sudden deaths and study how they compare in terms of wealth at death. Our results show that non-sudden deaths are associated with significantly less financial wealth at the time of death. We interpret this difference as the result of inter-vivos transfers that result from estate planning towards the end of life. We find significant effects not only at the top of the wealth distribution but along the entire upper half of the distribution. Diseases with a relatively low survival rate that do not affect cognitive abilities appear as the most likely to trigger estate planning. These results have important implication for gift and inheritance tax schedules that allow for tax avoidance via exemptions and the progressivity of the tax rate.

中文翻译：

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热心奉献：遗产规划和生前转让的证据

在这项研究中，我们探讨了临终前遗产规划和生前转移的重要性。为此，我们使用 2006 年至 2013 年间荷兰发生的所有死亡的行政数据。我们将这些数据与财富和所得税记录以及出院登记册联系起来。利用这些独特的数据，我们区分突然死亡和非突然死亡，并研究它们在死亡时的财富方面如何进行比较。我们的研究结果表明，非猝死与死亡时的财务财富显着减少有关。我们将这种差异解释为临终遗产规划导致的生前转移的结果。我们发现不仅在财富分布的顶部，而且在整个分布的上半部分都有显着的影响。存活率相对较低且不影响认知能力的疾病似乎最有可能引发遗产规划。这些结果对于允许通过免税和累进税率避税的赠与税和遗产税表具有重要意义。