What would you do?
The decedent was an extremely wealthy man, with a net worth in excess of $3 billion. You are the executor of his estate.
Prior to his death in 2009, he retained one of the top tax firms in the country to review his existing estate plan.
Under his existing plan, which
“Blood may be thicker than water,” begins an advertisement in a recent edition of the NY Times Magazine, “but can it hold a business together?” The advertisement continues, “It’s a little-known fact that nearly 90% of U.S. businesses are family firms. All over America, people pour their heart and soul into building family companies.
As we reached the end of 2012 and the expiration (or so we thought) of the $5 million gift/estate tax exemption, many taxpayers scrambled to make gifts to, or for the benefit of, their family members. With these gifts, they sought to remove assets, and their appreciation, from the reach of the estate tax. 
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