During an economic recession, many people tighten their belts and look for ways to save money. Often, one of the first things they remove from their “to do” list is estate planning. There are, however, a couple of estate planning techniques that work particularly well during a recession and in an era of low interest rates. Spending money on these estate planning techniques now can be an excellent way to transfer assets from an individual’s estate, saving estate and gift taxes. Those interested in passing wealth to younger generations or charitable organizations have a couple of options.