One of the common features of proposals to reform the Federal estate tax is the idea that married couples should not need complicated estate planning, involving one or more trusts, to make full use of their estate tax exemption amounts.  But Marc S. Bekerman points out that “exemption portability” may not eliminate common needs for trusts and [...]

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Last week’s Wall Street Journal included Laura Saunder’s good, concise article: Will the Estate Tax Disappear? The article is short and worth reading, but here are the points I find most important: •    Elimination of step-up in basis at death–which is tied to elimination of the estate tax in 2010 under current law–would impact a [...]

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