The Estate Taxation Law is tax imposed on the transfer of a deceased person’s taxable estate, regardless of whether it is transferred via a will or according to the state laws of intestacy. The Estate Taxation Law is one part of the Unified Gift and Estate Tax systems in the United States. The other part of the system, the gift tax, imposes a tax on transfers of property during a person's life; the gift tax prevents avoidance of the estate tax should a person want to give away his/her estate just before dying. Internal Revenue Services has announced that in 2009 the annual gift tax exclusion has increased from $12,000 to $13,000. Therefore, a married couple can give up to $26,000 without incurring any federal gift tax. Tuition or medical expenses that are paid directly to the institution and medical provider respectively, a gift to your spouse, and a gift to political organization, are not taxable gifts. One spouse may use the entire annual exclusion amount with the consent of the other spouse. This means that one spouse can give the entire $26,000 with no gift tax as long as the other spouse consents of having his entire annual exemption applied to the gift.