On Dec 22, 8:07*pm, Ignoramus29073 ignoramus29...@NOSPAM.
29073.invalid wrote:

Dan, what you say is true only for medium size estates
(millions). Lots of money can be gifted (26k per year for married
couple per child and grandchild), put in life insurance, etc.

Say, 26k per year given to two children and four grandchildren, over
20 years, amounts to 26,000*6*20=3,120,000. Not bad. To add to this
cash gifts, appliances and other hanky panky, which must be declared
above 26k, but hard to prove, and a few extra mils can be passed
along.

But that is "lots" by our standards. For larger estates, as far as I
know, there is no easy or legal way to avoid estate tax.

So, essentially, small to medium sized estates can usually avoid much
of the taxation. Estate tax applies mostly to the "big guys".


Yes you can give away a lot of money. But I would rather keep control
of my money until I die and let my wife have control until she dies.
But this is not a good strategy with the current laws. In other words
one can avoid estate tax, but it costs you to do so.

I believe there are ways to avoid Estate Taxes for the "big guys"
too. Maybe you can not avoid all estate taxes, but the " big guys "
can avoid all but about 10% by using insurance and trusts.

Dan