Will They or Won’t They? An Update on Federal Estate Tax Law
My first post of the year (1/4/2010) concerned the elimination of federal estate tax for this year and this year alone. While that sounds like a good thing for the average American it’s not really because the law also eliminated the capital gains step up in basis. So many estates
We Don’t Owe Estate Tax So What the Heck is Inheritance Tax?
I got a call from Joe last week. His brother Jim died 5 months ago. Jim had never married and had no children, leaving his estate of assets totaling $150,000 to Joe. Everything seemed so simple. There was no need to pay taxes, or so he thought, because there is
What’s So Good About Eliminating Federal Estate Tax?
Many of us didn’t think we’d see 2010 but I guess we were wrong. I’m not talking about any apocalyptic predictions of the end of the world but, rather, about the elimination of federal estate tax under the 2001 tax bill that President Bush signed into law. Elimination
I Don’t Have an Estate Tax Problem — Do I?
A few months back I wrote about how estates up to $3,500,000 are not subject to federal estate tax and that the tax will be eliminated in 2010. For this reason, when people call our office to discuss estate planning they will often begin by saying that they are not
No Estate Tax in 2010 – Will It Really Happen?
Ever since Congress passed the current estate tax legislation in 2001 it was the belief of many, including myself, that legislators would have to go back and pass changes to the law before 2010. You see, in 2010 there is no federal estate tax. But, the elimination of the tax