That uncertainty has fueled a lucrative business for estate planners as the amount that their clients could transfer to subsequent generations tax-free kept threatening to drop, but only went up, as noted here. With the fiscal cliff looming at the end of 2012 it reached a high frenzy as lawyers worked overtime during the holiday season to set up trusts and fund them with gifts that made maximum use of what was then the $5.12 million per person tax-free amount.