Good Article
The past several months have seen a torrent of articles, newsletters and bulletins summarizing the present situation concerning estate planning. It is time to step back, simplify (to the extent possible) and clearly analyze the present and future estate planning situation.
There are basically three primary goals that are at the heart of estate planning:
1. Reduction of estate and gift taxes;
2. Deferral of the tax burden; and
3. Providing liquidity for ultimate payment of taxes.
At present, we are in an extremely volatile time concerning estate planning. The present rules are only effective for the remainder of this year. What the future (2013 and onward) rules will be is dependent on what Congress does (or fails to do) in 2012 and early 2013.