The Estate Tax Transition: Falling Just Short of an Estate Tax Break

At least one family chose to let their loved one die naturally shortly before the new year rather than prolonging their loved one’s life with artificial support in order to save $3 million with the 2010 estate tax repeal.

Conversely, the beneficiary of a man who died during the final hours of 2009 believes that his loved one would have delayed death for just one more day had he known that doing so could have saved his estate $3 million in estate taxes. 

The 2009 to 2010 estate tax transition may be making a hard time harder for some families.

See Susan Edelman, Dying 13 hrs. too soon costs $3 mil in taxes, NY Post, Jan. 10, 2010; see also Hani Sarji, NY Post: “what a difference a day makes,” Future of the Federal Estate Tax, Jan. 10, 2010.