There is a school of thought that suggests that if the exemption equivalent falls back to $1,000,000 next year that couples with a combined estate in excess of $2,000,000 are the only ones that need to worry about estate planning.
WRONG!!!!. This fails to take into account “Estate Stacking” which is what happens when husband and wives use the unlimited marital deduction to leave everything to each other. Effectively on the death of the survivor, $1,000,000 is exposed to estate tax. Depending on the rate at the time, it could be as much as $550,000. There are solutions for this problem.
Make sure you contact someone who devotes their practice to Estate Planning. I am amazed at how many of my colleagues don’t understand or know that life insurance proceeds are includible in a person’s estate for estate tax purposes.
So do yourself and your family a favor and talk to someone who knows.