March 31, 2012 marked the seventh anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo, the 41-year-old who succumbed after her feeding tube was removed as part of a very public legal battle between her husband and parents.

Last year Ohio abolished its estate tax, joining the 28 other states that do not impose such a tax at death. Indiana's legislature recently passed by big margins a bill to phase out its death tax by 2021, and Governor Mitch Daniels signed it this week. Heated debates are going on in Tennessee and Nebraska over the issue. Even in Oregon taxpayer groups are attempting to put an initiative on the November ballot to abolish the death tax, and polls show it could win.

Most parents want to ensure that at least some of their assets will pass to their children. However, with blended families absent good estate planning, there is no guarantee that their children will inherit their assets.

In a great story from the Wall Street Journal we are reminded again of the importance of well thought out and clear planning. See: Testing Donor’s Intent, 350 Years Later.

On February 13, 2012, President Obama released his fiscal year 2013 budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2012. This budget contains several long-standing proposals – as well as some new ones – that would impact estate planning significantly.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has added a provision to The Highway Investment, Job Creation and Economic Growth Act of 2012 that will reduce the value of inherited IRAs.

With the $5.12 million per person exemption from federal estate tax ($10.24 million for married couples), most of the estate planning “talk” recently has been on the planning opportunities available to affluent families. However, the need for estate planning remains for everyone. A recent Forbes article suggests “common sense” guidelines for determining the extent one needs an estate plan.

While having sound documents is important, the wonderful plan you created is of no use if no one can find it. Judging from the inquiries I often see it is not uncommon for people to pass without having informed anyone of the location of their estate planning documents or the attorney who prepared them.

One of the planning challenges we often run into is planning for the family cabin or vacation home. Often there are strong emotional ties to the vacation home by all of the children. But who gets to use the home when and who pays how much for property taxes and other expenses can often lead to significant conflicts.

As I was preparing over the last few days for an upcoming presentation to the local Rotary Club on the “Seven Levels of Asset Protection” I came across a list of the Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2011.

If you read business books of any kind you will quickly come across the idea from Jim Collins’ book Good to Great that good is the enemy of great. But I was struck again this week as I read an article in Smart Money magazine by Glenn Ruffenach titled “Some Long-Term-Care Insurance is Better than None” that the “good is the enemy of great” axiom doesn’t always hold true. This is especially true in the realm of planning.