Michigan Estate Planning Lawyer Blog

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In the ongoing saga of what is going on with our Federal Estate Tax policy, it had looked like we were near an agreement between Democrats and Republicans. Well, not so fast, as according to thehill.com, talks broke down Monday and Tuesday and are now at a stand still.

To quote Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R.-Ariz.), "We no longer have an agreement because the Democratic side has decided that unless a matter has a guaranteed majority of Democratic votes going in, they're not going to allow it on the floor, at least not voluntarily," he said. "So we have to find a way to get a reasonable permanent estate tax reform to the floor where members can vote on it."

You can read Kyl: Senate deal off on estate tax at www.thehill.com.

So the saga continues...

Noone enjoys thinking about dieing. That is one of the reasons that people continue to procrastinate on putting together their estate planning documents. Estate planning documents are the key to determine where your money will go when you pass away. Failure to prepare proper estate planning documents can lead to a a legal nightmare that causes undue stress and financial burden on your loved ones and heirs.

The New York Times has a great article entitled "Assemble a Paper Trail, and Make Sure Your Heirs Can Follow It.", that talks about some important concepts in estate planning including reviewing wills, living trusts, and powers of attorney.

According to a May 5th report from thehill.com, there should be some action taken on the Federal Estate Tax quagmire we are dealing with now. The article has a quote from Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus who said "I'll know more about the estate tax in a few more days," he said. "It's going on this week at the staff level and will on the [member] level later on this week."

This is good to hear, because with the current state of the Federal Estate tax there is quite a bit of uncertainty as to where the exemption amount will land. Whether it will be the $1 million that is on the books now for next year or if the amount will be will be bumped up to $3.5 million.

Read the article in it's entirety here: Baucus sees action on small business bill, estate tax soon.

How much life insurance do you need? According to Anderson Cooper of CNN, there is no simple answer to how much insurance coverage is enough. Take a look at the CNN Money post at AC360 entitled "If you're going to buy life insurance, make sure you've got enough."