Billionaire Dies, No Taxes For Uncle Sam

As a Detroit Federal Estate Tax estate planning lawyer, I keep up on the latest goings on with the Federal Estate Tax debate.

Dan Duncan, a billionaire, who made his money in oil and gas has recently passed away. Forbes magazine had him listed as the 74th wealthiest person in the world.  His estate was valued at $9 billion.  Had he lived until Jan 1, 2011, his estate may have paid up to 55% of that $9 billion to the United States government.  Instead, because of congress’ failure to address the Federal Estate Tax, there is no estate tax due.

The United States has had a Federal Estate Tax since 1916.  When Rockefeller died in 1937, his estate had paid a 70% tax according to a nytimes.com article.

It will be interesting to see if Congress acts before we go reach 2011.  Will the estate tax exemption amount fall back to $1 million?