Defining the Estate: Why Do You Ask?Defining the Estate: Why Do You Ask?

The “estate” is central to our professions.  We plan estates, we administer estates and we even call ourselves trusts and estates practitioners.

But what’s this thing called the estate?  How does its definition impact advice to clients and their understanding of their assets and how they pass?  The concept of “estate” has different meanings in various technical contexts, which alone or collectively may not reflect clients’ understanding of their individual circumstances.

The changes of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 in the federal estate tax law, increasing the exemption to $5.25 million and allowing a surviving spouse to claim the unused exemption of a decedent, create broad opportunity to individualize planning and administrati...