Estate taxes

Estate tax planning has taken a turn for the better for the very wealthy – new changes signed into law regarding Estate Taxes temporarily double the exemption amount for estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes (from 5 million to 10 million). This benefits anyone with over $11 million in assets, as it protects this money from taxes when it is given as a gift or transferred at death. As it stands now, very few individuals will be subject to a federal estate tax.

Possibly. If you reside in Maryland when you die, your estate may have to pay both federal estate tax and Maryland estate tax. Maryland is one of the few states in the country that has an estate tax! The good news is that estate taxes are only paid by the very wealthy. The IRS estimates that less than one percent of estates annually are subject to the federal estate tax. For this year the Federal estate tax is levied against estates worth more than $5.