The clock is ticking. If Congress doesn’t act, on January 1, 2010, the Federal Estate Tax will be repealed. While I’m sure that many people think that this is a great thing, it is not.
First, it will be repealed for one year and one year only. Not only that, when it returns on January 1, 2011, the lifetime exemption, that is the total amount of property that a person may own at the time of their death, goes from $3,500,000 today back to $1,000,000.
Estate planners are referring to 2010 as “Throw Momma From the Train”.
Tick tock, Congress. Tick tock.