You do realize why the Estate tax existed didn't you?
They wanted to make sure that there were no legacies of money... That's how monarchies were formed in the old days... Money and power handed down from parent to child.
It's to avoid the "divine right" syndrome that it creates.
I don't know how I feel on the subject to be honest.
I understand where you are coming on, TuHolmes, and agree to a certain extent. What I don't like is that it ends up being triple/quadruple taxation at the end.
Also, what if a family member has a business, farm etc? One of the criticisms of the Estate Tax is that often times the business or farm or whatnot has to be sold/chopped up to meet the tax obligation.
It seems like an AMT situation where it sounded good when it only taxed the ultra wealthy but now it hits too many people.