Joe's estate of $18,061,112 would face
federal estate taxes of $4,571,389.
If the surviving spouse would eventually be subject to
federal estate taxes using the lower $2 million state exclusion in the first deceased spouse's estate, the family probably would be better off increasing the credit shelter trust to $3.
Corrections: In our June/July Advance item "A Pair of Queens," we reported that Annie Leibovitz had to pay exorbitant income taxes on her inheritance from her partner; to be technically accurate, we should have said
federal estate taxes.
Looking at
federal estate taxes, USDA says that changes to these policies reduced the number of farm estates required to file an estate tax return as well as the number required to pay tax and the amount of
federal estate taxes owed.
The credit for prior transfers allows the personal representative to claim a credit against the decedent's federal estate tax liability for
federal estate taxes which were paid in another estate in which the current decedent was a beneficiary.
Lincoln Life's offering is through a rider that gives policyholders the right to surrender their universal life contracts without incurring surrender charges if Congress extends repeal of
federal estate taxes through at least Jan.
Of 23 estates settled by the Farm Bureau Legal Service Plan from 1995 through 1999, only one required payment of
federal estate taxes while nine estates had to pay Pennsylvania's inheritance tax.
As the law stands, families have little time to collect the needed funds:
federal estate taxes are due nine months after the date of death and must be paid in cash.
Schiller, a frequent Education Foundation instructor on
federal estate taxes and succession planning, notes that under current law, there are allowances in which a married couple could pass on at least $6.
Because while life insurance proceeds are generally exempt from income taxes, they are subject to onerous
federal estate taxes.
Since
federal estate taxes may be levied at rates as high as 55 percent, selling all or part of the property is often the only way in which family members pay their taxes.
7 million up front in state and
federal estate taxes before they could get their hands on the money.
