Skip to main content

Bipartisan Estate Tax Bill Introduced in House

With the estate tax set to expire in 2010, a bipartisan bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would increase the estate tax exemption to $5 million, (phased in with a $250,000 increase each year from 2009, when the exemption will already be $3.5 million, to 2015). The exemption would then be indexed to increase at the rate of inflation.

The bill, introduced by Reps. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) and Christopher Shays (R-CT), would also create two tax rates: 15 percent for estates worth $25 million and less and 30 percent for estates worth more than $25 million. Under current law, the top tax rate will be 45 percent in 2009.

Earlier in the year, the U.S. Senate voted 51-41 to reaffirm its support for a budget resolution that establishes the current-law 2009 estate tax rules through 2012.

To read a copy of the bill, H.R. 3170 go to: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:h.r.3170:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's really Spring!

It's clearly Spring around here.  On the way to work this morning I saw several groups of Turkeys.  In each group there was at least one male presenting his tail for the females.  This looks like the classic picture you see of a Turkey around Thanksgiving with his big tail unfurled like a peacock.  But, you won't see that in November, it is courting behavior used in the Spring to find a mate.  Imagine if we humans had some sort of mating system like that.  The males puff themselves up, furl out their tails and strut around waiting for a female to find them attractive ... that would be something  ... oh, wait! Three Turkeys at my Bird Feeder - April 2011 (C) Edward Adamsky, 2011
2 comments
Read more

4 Planning Tips for Parents of Disabled Children

Buy enough life insurance . You can’t be replaced, but someone will have to fill in if you aren’t there. Your family will probably have to pay for some services that you used to provide. You can provide the money necessary, even if you don’t have much now, with life insurance. Set up a trust . Any assets left for a child with special needs, including life insurance proceeds, should be held in trust. Leaving money directly to someone with a special need jeopardizes public benefits. Some families disinherit children with special needs, relying on siblings to care for them. This approach is fraught with potential problems. The best approach is a trust fund set aside for the child with special needs. Write down the care plan . You must write down what a future caregiver will need to know about your special needs child. You may know everything but you need to write it down so it can be passed on. The memo or letter can be kept in the attorney's files or with the parent's estate plan...
2 comments
Read more

Clifton B. Kruse, Jr., Leading Elder Law Attorney, Dies at 74

Clifton B. Kruse , Jr., a revered elder law attorney who was admired as much for his kindness and generosity to fellow practitioners as for his grasp of the law, died December 30, 2008, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was 74. The cause was complications from Alzheimer's disease. For many in the field, Kruse set the standard for all that an elder law attorney can and should be. One of elder law's founding fathers, he combined a gentlemanly charm, warmth and caring with one of the sharpest and most ethical of legal minds. Wrote Arizona elder law attorney Robert Fleming in a tribute , "In my third of a century of elder law practice I have never met another lawyer who managed to pull together sophistication, heartfelt empathy, intellectual rigor and courtly manner in the same fashion Clifton Kruse projected. He did it, to all appearances, effortlessly. He was a friend and mentor to many in the elder law community (I count myself among those legions)." Kruse was the e...
1 comment
Read more