Costs of Estate Tax Dithering, The

Abstract

FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)|Thank you for that very kind introduction, Ed. But I fear that it has added to the burden I face in talking about tax law on a Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., following three excellent panels.|I was honored last May when Ed called to invite me to deliver this lecture named after your former dean, Louis TePoel, especially in light of the distinguished folks that have stood behind this podium over the past thirty-five years.|Ed and I talked about several possible topics for this lecture, and we soon agreed that I would discuss the new estate tax law that everyone - academics, lawyers, politicians, pundits - assumed would be enacted before the end of 2009. I was working on a new edition of our Estate & Gift Tax casebook in anticipation of the new law, so I thought that by today I would surely have a lot to say about the ins and outs of the new estate tax law...