Fallout from the year without estate taxes

Estate Tax Repeal Stirs Lawsuit Fears reports Dow Jones in Financial Advisor magazine. The problem is that few estate plans took into account a year without estate taxes, and beneficial interests in an estate or trust could easily be affected. Some states are trying to fill the gap, offering rules for making assumptions about testator intentions. Estate lawyers who've been hoping Congress will cure the problem are now being told that they have to alert their clients to the situation, to start creating a paper trail to protect themselves from lawsuits by unhappy beneficiaries.