Worried about Estate Taxes? One Strategy to Try

Imagine having a thriving family business that you plan to leave to your heirs.

Or maybe there's a substantial piece of land that you want to leave your children.

During the estate-planning process, however, you discover your beneficiaries will be subject to a $10 million tax bill. (That may sound impossible, considering the $11.4 million federal estate tax exclusion, but it can happen with a large family business -- especially when you take into consideration possible state taxes.) And the only way for your estate to pay this tax liability, in the absence of additional advanced planning, may be to sell the family business or the land you hoped to pass on.

You don't want your heirs to be forced into a fire sale, where they would