Last Wednesday I reported on a bill that is working its way through the Virginia legislature designed to fix a glitch created by repeal of the federal estate tax that took place on January 1 - Virginia Legislation Attempts to Fix Glitch Created by Federal Estate Tax Repeal. The purpose of the legislation is to provide a road map for the estate plans of Virginia couples that were not drafted to take into consideration the possibility of federal estate tax repeal, but Virginia is not the only state that wants to create such a fix for its residents. Eileen Ambrose reported last week for The Baltimore Sun that the Maryland State Bar Association, in conjunction with several state legislators, are working together to draft a bill similar to the one introduced in Virginia.
Ms. Ambrose points out that while many have speculated that Congress will act quickly to reinstate the federal estate tax in 2010, others believe that Congress will avoid addressing the estate tax during an election year. This political uncertainty has in turn led to these state initiatives to fix thousands of estate plans that have so suddenly become broken. And as the days of 2010 continue to pass by and as Congress continues to do nothing, expect more states to jump on the bandwagon to offer their residents legislative relief.