Definition of "Federal estate tax"

Mike Williams real estate agent

Written by

Mike Williamselite badge icon

Keller Williams

Federal tax imposed on the estate of a decedent according to the value of that estate. The first step in the computation of the federal estate tax owed is to determine the value of the decedent's gross estate. This determination can be made by adding the following values of assets owned by the decedent at the time of death:

  1. property owned outright.
  2. gratuitous lifetime transfers, but with the stipulation that the decedent retained the income or control over the income.
  3. gratuitous lifetime transfers subject to the recipient's surviving the decedent.
  4. gratuitous lifetime transfers subject to the decedent's retaining the right to revoke, amend, or alter the gift.
  5. annuities purchased by the decedent that are payable for the life time of the named survivor as well as the annuitant.
  6. property jointly held in such a manner that another party receives the decedent's interest in that property at the decedent's death because of that party's survivor ship.
  7. life insurance in which the decedent retained incidents of ownership.
  8. life insurance that was payable to the decedent's estate.
The second step in the computation of the federal estate tax owed is to subtract allowable deductions (including bequests to charities, bequests to the surviving spouse, funeral expenses, and other administration expenses) from the gross estate. This results in the taxable estate. Adjustable taxable gifts are then added to the taxable estate, resulting in the computational tax base. From the table below, the appropriate tax rate is then applied to the computational tax base, resulting in the tentative (certain credits may still be subtracted) federal estate tax.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

The space created between the total death benefit and the cash value of a universal life insurance policy. An automatic increase in the death benefit results when the cash value approaches ...

Utilization of life insurance to make annual gifts into a trust in order to produce the largest tax-free death benefit possible to the trust beneficiaries. ...

Policy that pays a specified sum not related in any way to the extent of the loss. The term applies to a life insurance policy rather than to a contract of indemnity because the former does ...

Assembly of people formed only for obtaining group insurance. Such a group is uninsurable and violates underwriting principles concerning group insurance. ...

Subrogation clauses are used in both the real estate and insurance industries to follow lawful claims against a third party that damaged the property of the insured. If we encounter a ...

Specified limit on the dollar amount of coverage for a given loss. ...

Ratio commonly used by the property and casualty insurance industry as a measure of financial strength or to indicate to what degree a particular insurance company is leveraged. A low ratio ...

Provides the same coverage as a comprehensive personal liability insurance policy, plus coverage to exposures that are peculiar to farms, such as farm business operations, farm employees ...

Same as term Debit Insurance: life insurance on which a premium is collected on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis, usually at the home of a policyholder. The face value of the policy is ...

Popular Insurance Questions