Estate tax - always a moving target

If legislation proposed yesterday is passed, the federal estate tax exemption may drop down to $3.5M from the current exemption of $5.45M. Of course, the first hurdle in Washington State is the lower estate tax exemption of roughly $2M and no option for portability (combining exemptions with your spouse).  It's also important to keep in mind that your estate value for estate tax purposes includes assets such as retirement accounts, life insurance, and other assets that may transfer outside of probate.  An article by Accounting Today covers more details regarding the proposed legislation.