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Originally posted by Connect_the_Dots
I don't think the actual form is any more complicated (but I am not a tax attorney). I do remember from my estate tax class in LS that a lot of the ways to get hit with death taxes (generation skipping transfer taxes, IRD, etc.) require a lot of lawyering to avoid (charitible remainder trusts, etc.).

As a corporate lawyer, I remember doing some fancy footwork to avoid (not evade) taxes for my clients (1031 asset exchanges, IRU swaps etc.) but there the players were big boys who could afford to pay what was a small amount in relation to the taxes that they avoided. As a percentage, an estate of 1-2 million or so will have a lot of wealth eaten up in lawyer fees. If the cutoff were higher (10 million?), maybe it wouldn't bother me. But if you have to pay, say, 5% of your estate that is a lot of money, even if it helps to keep you from having to turn over 40% to the government. Paying 5% is better than paying 40, but that still doesn't mean that paying the 5% is "fair".

end rant.

People pay 5% or more (and sign non-disclosure agreements) to avoid taxes all the freaking time. Ask E&Y and Jenkins.

Edited to correct spelling.