Federal estate taxes are due nine months after the second death, and the IRS wants cash. For a land-rich or business-heavy estate, finding that cash is the whole problem. How you solve it decides whether your heirs keep what you built.
Talk Through Your SituationMost of a large estate is not sitting in cash. It is a business, a ranch, real estate, a portfolio that would trigger its own taxes if sold. The estate tax does not wait for a good time to sell.
Your estimated estate tax today and at age 85, based on current federal law. Nothing to download, no email required.
A simplified estimate using today's federal exemption ($15M individual / $30M married) and the top 40% federal rate. The age-85 projection assumes your estate grows 5% per year and the exemption rises 2% per year. It does not account for state estate tax, portability elections, gifting, deductions, or future changes in the law — all of which we factor into a full analysis.
Schedule a Full AnalysisThere are five ways to pay an estate tax bill. Four of them quietly cost your family more than the tax itself. One provides the cash at exactly the moment it is needed, for a fraction of the price.
Options 1–4 · Do Nothing · Most Expensive
Forced liquidation
Debt defers, it does not solve
A dollar-for-dollar loss
Fourteen years as the IRS's partner
Option 5 · Act Now · Lowest Cost · The Only Proactive Choice
A life insurance policy delivers an immediate, income-tax-free pool of cash at exactly the moment the estate needs it.
Premium cost runs about 30% of the death benefit. Structured with premium financing, closer to 6–7% of the premium.
| Sell Assets | $20M+ | plus capital gains and lost appreciation |
| Bank Loan | $20M+ | plus compounding interest and dual liens |
| Pay Cash | $20M | dollar-for-dollar, permanently removed |
| §6166 Election | ~$26M | principal plus 14 years of IRS interest |
| Life Insurance | ~$6M | about 30% of the benefit in total premiums |
| + Premium Financing | ~$1.4M | net out of pocket with financing |
Illustrative. Actual costs vary by estate size, age, health, carrier, and financing structure.
An irrevocable life insurance trust owns the policy so the death benefit is never counted in your taxable estate. Skip this step and a large policy you own personally can push the estate further over the exemption, adding to the tax it was meant to pay.
A lender covers the premiums. You post collateral and pay the interest, and your capital stays working in the business or the portfolio. It cuts the out-of-pocket cost of the strategy to a fraction of the premium.
Your estate keeps growing and rates keep moving, so the structure is not set-and-forget. We review the funding, the collateral position, and the projected bill every year and adjust before anything drifts.
Roughly the size of the projected tax, which is a moving number because the estate keeps growing. We model the expected bill against your actual balance sheet and a conservative growth assumption, then size the coverage to that figure rather than a round number.
An irrevocable life insurance trust owns the policy instead of you owning it personally, which keeps the death benefit out of your taxable estate. A large policy you own yourself can actually push the estate further over the exemption, adding to the problem it was meant to solve.
A lender pays the policy premiums. You post collateral and cover the loan interest, and your own capital stays invested in your business or portfolio. It reduces the out-of-pocket cost of the strategy to a fraction of the premium.
The risk people picture is policy performance. We design with conservative crediting assumptions, place coverage only with carriers chosen for financial strength, and review the structure every year so it stays on track as rates and your estate change.
Maybe not. The first step is a review of what you hold: whether it is owned correctly, in trust and outside the estate, and whether the coverage still matches the projected tax. Sometimes the fix is restructuring, not buying.
Cost is driven by age and health, and both only move one direction. The federal exemption is also scheduled to keep shifting. Starting earlier locks in lower premiums and more flexibility.
A confidential, no-obligation discovery conversation. We educate first. We advise always. We never pressure.
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