One of the principal reasons that clients seek out legal counsel to aid in the planning of their estate is to avoid estate taxes. These taxes are sometimes called "death taxes." We will discuss the concept of estate taxes in this week's thread. Students should read about this tax and the changes that may be made, including its elimination. Seek out information about what the estate tax really is and why we have it. Sources include newspapers, legal articles and news magazines.Don't forget about the General Library resources available to you in this course, as well as news websites, such asCNN.com

You are not researching the legal aspects of the estate tax. Instead, you are to learn about and discuss the purposes of the tax and how the changes will affect our legal system. This exercise is designed to help you understand how political decisions result in changes in the law.

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Questions that may be discussed include, but are not limited to: 1) is the estate tax really a death tax? 2) who pays the tax? 3) what percent of the probated estates pay an estate tax? 4) does your state have a state estate tax? 5) if so, is the state government happy about the possibility of eliminating the tax? 6) what were the social problems was this tax enacted to correct? 7) do you agree or disagree with the idea of elimination of the tax, and why? I live in Texas