Estate Tax

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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House May Consider Estate Tax in April

March 29, 2010

It appears that the House of Representatives may finally start the process of passing new estate tax legislation. According to a recent article in Bloomberg Business Week, the House Ways and Means Committee will begin work in April to retroactively revive last year’s estate tax, which exposed estates worth more than $3.5 million to a [...]

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Wall Street Journal Illustrates How Death of Estate Tax May Cost Heirs More

March 5, 2010

In an article entitled “Why No Estate Tax Could Be a Killer,” the Wall Street Journal illustrated how the death of the estate tax may cost heirs more. The article compared the how two fictional widows with the same asset would fare under this year and last year’s tax laws. One widow, identified as Ms. [...]

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