Beth Shapiro Kaufman of Caplin & Drysdale recently published an article in Estate Planning Magazinerecently published an article in Estate Planning Magazine entitled “United States: Estate Tax Legislation In 2009: Avoiding The Train Wreck.” In it, she discusses the fact that the estate tax is scheduled to disappear next year and come back with a vengance ($1 million exemption, 55% rate) in 2011, which would certainly be a train wreck. Kaufman lays out the various proposals on the table, but at this point, I’m not sure if her crystal ball is better than anyone else’s.
I just wish Congress would decide something. The whole point of estate planning is to use the rules to come up with the best results.
Planning can be very difficult if you don’t know what the rules are.