Although Congress passed legislation to increase the "applicable exclusion amount" for estate taxes, the fact is that the "death tax" will only be completely eliminated for a one-year window - the year 2010 - unless the repeal is extended or made permanent through new legislation.
The message is clear - planning ahead to cover the cost of potential estate taxes is still the best strategy.
Survivorship insurance - sometimes referred to as second-to-die insurance provides a death benefit that can be used to help pay estate taxes.