This bears repeating.  2012 is great year to make a large gift due to the $5 million unified credit.  It is unlikely that the credit will ever be larger and it is possible that it will be much smaller if the scheduled reduction to $1 million remains intact.

The WSJ ran a squeamish article about the organ donation process.  The best advice seems to be to foresake checking a box on the driver’s license and allow family members decide if and when to donate organs.  Family members will be in a position to ensure that proper brain death procedures have been followed and that anesthesia has been administered.

In trying to maximize lifetime Social Security benefits, it is best to delay taking distributions as long as possible.  However, if ill health is a factor, grab them as soon as possible.

When estate taxes do not apply to most people, the hot topic in estate planning apparently becomes accessing post-mortem digital data. I have revised my wills to authorize executors to access on-line accounts.  A corollary is to have a note with the will which lists the passwords and desired disposition of the account and data.

nb.  The recommended language in the article is the type of drafting that people pejoratively refer to as “legalese.”

Even with the current estate tax environment, trusts are still necessary.  My reasons for recommending them are to protect youthful heirs and to simplify the administration process.  The forthcoming decrease of the estate tax exemption amount to $1 million is a third reason.