United States: Time running out on federal estate-tax law

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Federal estate-tax laws are on a collision course with chaos in 2010, thanks to an old piece of legislation that's on schedule to come to full fruition less than six months from now.

Many estate-planning experts don't believe Congress and the White House will let matters transpire as mandated by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which remains on the books.

But they've been predicting Washington would modify the rules well before 2010 - and so far nothing has happened.

The headline-grabbing change for 2010 would be an effective repeal of the federal estate tax, as the rate is set to drop to zero from 45 percent currently.

Most Americans don't face an estate tax - you need at least $3.5 million per person in assets currently to trigger it - but it's a big deal for the wealthy and for the federal government.

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Time running out on federal estate-tax law