We summarized the recent changes to the Federal estate tax in our Spring Newsletter. Let us know if you'd like another copy. This Newsletter is more analytical:

1. The long-deferred, one-year "repeal" of the estate tax law is dishonest and unfair. Strong words, we know. But consider:

(a) It's pass-the-buck budgeting. Congress is saying we can't afford repeal now, but let's "promise" future Congresses will find a way to get along without the revenue.

(b) It snubs the WWII generation. Hey, thanks for winning the war; now (actuarially speaking) we're going to tax your generation but not the next one.

(c) It's illusory. Repeal may never happen, but now people have to plan for both possibilities: a tax and no tax.

2. So what to do with this unhappy confusion? Ask yourself: what am I trying to accomplish? Estate planning has probably been too tax-driven in recent years, and the new legislation does little to get us off that obsession. But let's try anyway; let's think and talk about goals before adopting strategies. What am I trying to accomplish, beyond my own financial security? To make my kids as wealthy as possible? Or is it something more refined, something not solely quantitative? Would my kids be better off with a pile of assets, or a stream of income? Does charitable giving fit in somewhere, to support my wishes or set an example for my kids?

3. The active skeptic will win. Once I articulate my goals, I can set about making and implementing strategies. Maybe I keep some of my kids' inheritance in a trust for their lifetimes, to protect them from financial misfortune, divorcing spouses, and lawsuits. It pays (for our kids) to be wary of these risks and of Congress, and to act on this skepticism. Maybe I start the trust now in a small way, to begin reducing my estate rather than gambling on full repeal of the estate tax.

We enjoy working with people like you, helping to think out and articulate goals, and adopt and implement strategies to work toward your goals. We encourage you to turn Congressional confusion into a blessing in disguise, an occasion for taking hold of your family's future.

If you'd like to talk further about your estate planning, please call the attorney with whom you work, or Julie Dickens, Al Falk, Alan Macpherson, Eileen Peterson, or Sandy Rovai, all members of our Trusts & Estates Group. Thanks.