Don't Care to Bump Yourself Off in 2010?

You might duck death tax with trusts instead.

That Violently Assisted Suicide parody that Jim Gust and the Tax Prof called to our attention the other day has reached the mainstream media.

Evidence: this estate-tax story in The Wall Street Journal.

Now that the estate tax seems determined to stick around (and don't bet on that one-year hiatus), the Journal says that tax-reducing trusts are selling like hot cakes:

GRATs, or grantor retained annuity trusts, have boomed as a way to give lucrative assets to family and friends without paying a hefty gift tax. A GRAT allows its owner to discount the taxable value of a gift, and is used to transfer appreciation on hedge funds, private equity, real estate and other assets without paying gift tax.

P.S. I still think that parody misses the mark. For every rich guy who would pay to have himself bumped off in 2010, there must be dozens of impatient heirs willing to shell out for a little homicide.