Estate Planners face profound uncertainty about the future of the federal estate tax and the provisions that may apply in its absence.

While we cannot know the ultimate fate of the federal estate tax or , whether the step-up of basis at death will really disappear, and whether all of these changes will be themselves eliminated in 2011 by EGTRRA’s sunset provisions,we must nevertheless advise our clients today, and this book is intended to guide you in developing practical solutions to the various problems that must be faced while you wait.

This new book takes a practical and strategic approach to dealing with the issues. For example, this book:

• Discusses the key tax law changes made by EGTRRA that affect the use of certain commonly used estate planning strategies;
  
• Provides an overview of how EGTRRA affects estate planning; addresses the key planning techniques that are affected; and advises the estate planner on how to adapt his or her practice to the new law;
  
• Looks at how EGTRRA should affect lifetime gifts, as well as other intrafamily transfers, and how EGTRRA’s changes should be integrated into various forms of lifetime gifts;
  
• Addresses EGTRRA’s affect on the use of life insurance in estate planning and its ongoing importance in an estate plan whether or not the federal estate tax is repealed;
  
• Examines how EGTRRA affects charitable gift planning and how the possible repeal of estate and GST taxes requires clients to reevaluate and refine their charitable gift plans; and
  
• Discusses how EGTRRA affects several areas of estate planning that take on much greater importance, including probate avoidance, disability and Medicaid planning, business succession planning, post-mortem estate planning, asset protection, and retirement plan distribution planning.

Also included are twenty-one sample wills and trusts that implement the practical strategies discussed throughout the book.