Taxation & Estate Planning

ALERT

By michael

Greg Herman-Giddens of the North Carolina Estate Planning Blog posted the below notice on his site and I thought it advisable to post the same here.  Thanks Greg.

As of January 1, 2010, there is no more federal estate tax. The estate tax has been replaced with a complex modified carryover basis regime. In 2011, the estate tax is scheduled to return, with a $1,000,000 exemption and 55% rate. Due to these changing laws, it is imperative that everyone with an estate of $1 million or more do proper planning to ensure that income and estate taxes will be minimized. Be aware that the face value of life insurance is included in calculating one’s estate, so even many young couples have estates in excess of $1 million. Do not let your family pay tax unnecessarily. Consult an estate planning specialist today.

Its worth noting that most people who watch this sort of thing think congress will retroactively reinstate the estate tax sometime in 2010 at 2009 rates and exemptions which would affect the estate of anyone who dies on or after January 1, 2010.  US v Cartson says its constitutional for them to do so, in my opinion, but we’ll see…  Its been over a decade since that opinion and we’ve got a different court and a different society.

Full post as published by The Ohio Trust & Estate Blog on January 18, 2010 (boomark / email).