From the category archives:

Estate Tax

How Do I Figure Out the Value of My Estate?

August 9, 2010

In 2010, there is no estate tax. However, the estate tax is scheduled to return next year. Whether you will be required to pay federal estate tax will depend on the value of your gross estate, minus your debts and liabilities. Estate tax is due on the portion of a net estate that exceeds the [...]

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Confidence in Estate Tax Fix is Waning

August 2, 2010

Time is running out. If Congress does not pass new estate tax legislation this year, estates valued at over $1 million will be subject to taxes of up to 55 percent starting on January 1, 2011, which means that many more Americans be affected by the estate tax. When the year began, many estate planning [...]

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Prepare for the Return of the Estate Tax

July 5, 2010

June has already come to an end, and Congress has not yet enacted new estate tax legislation. Although the estate tax is currently dead, it is scheduled to be reinstated on January 1, 2011. Last year, only estates valued at over $3.5 million were subject to an estate tax of up to 45 percent. But [...]

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Senate Republicans and Democrats Unable to Reach Agreement on Estate Tax

May 21, 2010

Many in the estate planning community were hopeful in the past couple of weeks with news that Senate was close to bipartisan agreement on new estate tax legislation. With the House having already passed its own version, it seemed like Congress was one step closer ending the uncertainty that has prevailed this year. But earlier [...]

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Is There Hope for New Estate Tax Legislation in 2010?

April 28, 2010

Most estate planning attorney never believed that Congress would let the estate tax expire. And when it did, most expected that Congress would act quickly to revive the estate tax, possibly making it retroactive to the beginning of the year. As April quickly draws to an end, Congress has not passed any new estate tax [...]

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Repeal of Estate Tax Causes Problems with Bypass Trusts

April 19, 2010

When EGTRRA was passed in 2001, it gradually increased the amount of assets that a decedent could pass without estate tax liability. In 2002, the exemption amount was $1 million, but by 2009, Americans could pass up to $3.5 million tax free. To maximize the amount of assets that could be passed to their heirs [...]

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