Houston Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney Blog
New York’s governor, Andrew M. Cuomo, took a step toward bringing the state’s estate tax in line with the federal one. And he is not alone among governors of cold-weather states (along with the District of Columbia) that have realized affluent residents are moving to states without estate taxes (and in some cases, income taxes) and in doing so, depriving their old state of the other taxes they paid, like property, sales and income tax.
With the federal estate tax exemption climbing to more generous levels, many states are considering a change in their own estate taxes. Why? Because taxpayers who are in the clear when it comes to federal death taxes may still be hit with state death taxes.
Will the states follow suit and drop draconian estate laws?