re: "Gifting a boat" to someone.......

True gift:

One person may gift up to $13,000 of value or cash to any one person without having to file a Federal gift tax return in a calendar year.

If it is comm property, they can gift together $26k to one person. But if my mom and dad want to gift me and my wife cash/property, that's 4 people @ $13k = $52k.

If you exceed any of these, you could do a partial gift this year, then the remaining portion next year. Or if not splitting it up, the giver could file the gift tax return and use a portion of their lifetime limit for estate and gift taxes. The receiver is never responsible for gift taxes.

FYI: LA has no estate/gift tax anymore

Hope it helps, but let me know if you need more info