g,
Not sure what axe you have to grind, but sparks are flying!
I do not do estate planning. Do not have any friends who do either, so your accusation is unfounded.
I oppose any estate tax. My point was that it is optional, if you have charitable intention.
Giving it away and designating it to causes you agree with prevents situations as you describe.
BTW, I am very familiar with the Frank Russell Company.
My grind is with TAXES.....and with people who are not close to Small Businesses....and think that ONLY RICH people are those with Assets......and, I am working with the Committee to Abolish the Washington State Estate Tax to rid Washington State of it's recently re-enacted Estate Tax, too.....and, lol....you don't know sparks, if you think THIS is sparks...and you obviously do not know much about Small Businesses and their operations. Give YOUR own money away.....I prefer people CHOOSE what they want to do with their money, and if it is pass it on to the next generation, which by the way many MINORITIES AND WOMEN who have built businesses in the past 20+ years would like to do.....then they should be able to that without the TAX Man (or estate planner) looming over them.
And, by the way....go over to the Gates Foundation financial records (online).....and you'll see they don't even spend the yearly *interest* that is collected on their fortune, let alone the estate capital itself. They do, however, spend $92 million a year just to administer the Foundation. And, they probably get a discount, cause Daddy Gates is an Estate Planning Attorney. Hypocrites.