Thursday, December 31, 2009

Death Tax

Rich Cling to Life to Beat Tax Man

Mr. Pelosi waits for midnight - a nation waits with him

Starting Jan. 1, the estate tax -- which can erase nearly half of a wealthy person's estate -- goes away for a year. For families facing end-of-life decisions in the immediate future, the change is making one of life's most trying episodes only more complex.

"I have two clients on life support, and the families are struggling with whether to continue heroic measures for a few more days," says Joshua Rubenstein, a lawyer with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in New York. "Do they want to live for the rest of their lives having made serious medical decisions based on estate-tax law?" [Note to family - yes].

The macabre situation stems from 2001, when Congress raised estate-tax exemptions, culminating with the tax's disappearance next year. However, due to budget constraints, lawmakers didn't make the change permanent. So the estate tax is due to come back to life in 2011 -- at a higher rate and lower exemption. [Full article]

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

My favorite classic story is that of Ted Arison, founder of Carnival Cruise who was born in Israel. In 1990 he renounced his US citizenship and moved back to avoid US estate taxes. He failed to meet the 10 years out of the United States rules when he died in October 1999. Missed it by two months.

marcm

Anonymous said...

We can expect to see a rash of rich people "accidentally" falling down the stairs next December.

Scottiebill said...

The gal in the tub looks a lot like Pinocchio Pelosi.

To the guy: What are you waiting for? Drop the hair dryer already!!

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