Estate Tax Basics
Misty Duffy
What Is It?
Estate tax is a tax levied on the net value of the estate of a deceased person before distribution of the heirs. A simpler definition would be that its your right to transfer property after your death. It consists of an accounting of everything you own or have certain interests in at the date of death. The total of all of these items is not actually wha you paid or what they were like when you bought them. The total is called your Gross Estate. What is included can be anything from cash, securities, real estate, insurance, trusts, annuities, business interests, and other assets.