Senators Delay an Estate Tax Solution

While Democrats and Republicans continue to point fingers at each other, a solution for the estate tax mess is nowhere near complete. When Republicans recently blamed the Democrats, they really meant that although the Democrats have been ready to compromise, many rank-and-file party members would avoid estate tax overhaul until after the November elections.

It seems more and more probable that the Senate will continue to stall and allow the exemption to reset at $1 million.

As I previously mentioned, there is also talk about prepaying estate taxes. However, this idea probably won’t gain support because there is no practical reason for people to use a “prepayment trust” rather than the old-fashioned irrevocable trust.

See Scott Martin, Bickering Senators Delay Estate Tax Fix, The Trust Advisor Blog, May 22, 2010.