estate-tax

There's a lot more to an estate plan than just a will, even for folks who don't need a more complicated estate-tax oriented version.

How To Write Your First Estate Plan Ashlea Ebeling 2011

By giving away some of his stock now, Mr. Davis says, he won't have to worry that his sons could be forced to take on debt or sell the company at a "fire-sale price" to satisfy the estate-tax bill they otherwise may incur upon his death.

Family Businesses Catch a Big Break Anne Tergesen 2011

Sandy Nichols A larger share of people's savings is winding up in IRAs—even as estate-tax rules are getting trickier and the markets are growing more volatile.

Survivors' Biggest Mistakes Kelly Greene 2011

The change has crimped the budgets of many of Hamilton county's well-off municipalities, because 80% of estate-tax revenues went to the towns where the deceased had lived.

Across America, the Middle Looks Up for Grabs—Again Neil King Jr. 2012

Still, filing an estate-tax return when isn't required is a bit of a hassle, especially with portability's future uncertain.

Survivors' Biggest Mistakes Kelly Greene 2011

Under federal law, spouses can use what as called "portability" to double the $5 million estate-tax exemption to $10 million.

Survivors' Biggest Mistakes Kelly Greene 2011

But there is a catch: Even if the first spouse's estate is valued at less than $5 million, that estate still has to file a federal estate-tax return and elect portability to use the leftover exemption in the future, says Paul McCawley , an estate-tax lawyer at Greenberg Traurig in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Survivors' Biggest Mistakes Kelly Greene 2011

An estate-tax return "can easily cost a few thousand dollars," Mr. McCawley says, and there are often extra appraisal costs.

Survivors' Biggest Mistakes Kelly Greene 2011

Say the wife dies first with a $1 million estate, which doesn't necessarily have to file an estate-tax return.

Survivors' Biggest Mistakes Kelly Greene 2011

An estate also can get hit by state-level estate taxes in about a dozen states with estate-tax thresholds that are less than $5 million, says James Cundiff , a partner at McDermott Will & Emery in Chicago.

Survivors' Biggest Mistakes Kelly Greene 2011