From "The Legacy Planning Landscape," Page 65 The need for estate planning isn't going anywhere, despite what might happen with estate tax "repeal." Nevertheless, because of the uncertainty, clients are procrastinating more than ever.
There are ways to deal with uncertainty, according to Lori Noffsinger, director of financial planning for First Union Securities in Richmond, Va. "I've been seeing advisers recommend that clients make more prevalent use of disclaimers."
That is, allow the surviving spouse to disclaim assets and thereby pass them directly to the kids or to a trust using the deceased's exemption equivalent to avoid estate taxes. But if estate taxes disappear, the spouse can accept the entire estate and still pass assets to the children without estate taxes.