In 1945, a Naval officer and his wife were unable to find a reasonable way to relocate their family from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon. It couldn’t be done – they could only take those possessions that would fit in their car.



This gave 29-year old L.S. Shoen an idea: rent trailers to people moving to distant cities and let them drop off the equipment at their destination. He picked fruit, cut hair, and saved every dime he could until he had Three Thousand Dollars – enough, he…

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The year is 2010 and the federal estate tax is officially repealed – for now.





If the intense political battle between the ultra-conservatives and most progressive liberals over the so-called “death tax” continues to drown out moderate hopes for permanent estate tax reform, the estate tax will resurge with a vengeance – starting in 2011, estates over $1 million will be subject to the federal tax which tops out at 55%.





Though there is no estate tax currently,… Continue

Congress Throws Estate Plans Into Disarray

Ashlea Ebeling, 12.17.09, 07:45 PM EST

Lawyers see litigation and administrative nightmares resulting from political impasse.



Barring a last-minute political deal, the federal estate tax is set to disappear as of Jan. 1, 2010--for just one year. Democratic leaders of Congress are vowing to resurrect the tax retroactively sometime next year, but the impending lapse has estate planners in a tizzy. They worry the lapse could turn into… Continue

Estate Tax Is Expiring, but Death Won’t Last Sign in to Recommend

By CARL HULSE

Published: December 17, 2009

WASHINGTON — A Congressional tax standoff has opened a window of opportunity for wealthy Americans determined to avoid paying up post-mortem.



With lawmakers unable to agree on a year-end fix for a quirk in the Bush-era tax cuts, the federal estate tax is set to be repealed for one year as of Jan. 1, meaning that those who suffer a timely death could escape the… Continue