Bess, a widow, died in October 2023. Her gross estate, which totaled \($12.5\) million, included a \($100,000\) life insurance policy on her life that she gave away in 2020. The taxable gift that arose from giving away the policy was \($15,000.\) In December 2017, Bess made a \($740,000\) taxable gift of stock whose value increased to \($790,000\) by the time Bess died. She owed debts of \($80,000\) at the time of her death.
a. What was her estate tax base?
b. What unified credit could her estate claim?