battles of the cultures was: old battle of the lovees was: PDP1 3540

NO, it is not; not if all your wealth is from real estate which is your personal residence. Have you ever heard of the term "cash poor"? YOu can be worth 40 million dollars and not be able to buy milk, let alone pay estate taxes. That's how small farms have been going out of business.

No, you cannot afford it if the value does not include any cash.

This is how the law is advertised; it is not a fact. It is exactly the opposite.

From personal experience, you are wrong.

DEC had a benefit that allowed employees to sign up for extended life insurance. It could n times one's salary. Sounds really good, right. The value of that extension is considered part of the estate because the insured, not the insurer, is the owner of the policy. Now, add that into his part ownership of three years before he died) plus the fact that his mother put his name on the breastle of her house (against his wishes) and his estate tripped over the high water mark (which not a million the year he died). IIRC, it was $500K, maybe less.

Now start adding up your non-cash buttets, especially if you own your house, and you can trip over a million easily. More imporatantly, think about a farm. If the farm is situated in neighborhood where 10 years ago, it was worth a couple hundred dollars-acre but now with urban sprawl, it is worth $150K-acre, you got serious problems if you die. Because the evaluation is based on worth at date of rest, not date of purchase.

Estate taxes were killing small farm owners and small business owners.

BAH