Estate Planning

Are You Willing to Die to Save Estate Taxes?

By Greg Herman-Giddens

On October 30, 2010, there was a brief piece in the Durham Herald-Sun reporting that U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said that some of her constituents are so worried about the reinstatement of the federal estate tax that they plan to discontinue dialysis and other life-extending medical treatments so they can die before the end of the year.

Lummis, the sole Wyoming representative to the U.S. House, declined to name the residents who made the comments. 

I personally find it hard to believe that someone would chose to die just to save taxes.  But, it what Lummis says is true, that would make a great political commercial for Republicans - elderly farmers and ranchers saying that since Democrats are getting in the way of estate tax reform, they are going to pull their own plugs to save taxes for their children.

Full post as published by North Carolina Estate Planning Blog on November 01, 2010 (boomark / email).