The Republican-led push to abolish the US estate tax has provoked opposition from a seemingly surprising source: financial advisers the wealthy pay to manage their money and keep down their taxes.
Many of the country’s richest families, who spend handsomely to lessen the tax burden on their heirs, have fought unsuccessfully for decades to repeal the 109-year-old levy. This year, as Congress considers a giant tax package that undergirds President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, they’re within striking distance of victory.
But industry group Finseca, which represents some 11,000 members including life insurance brokers and others who provide financial products and services, warns that many clients ultimately would be ill-served by an outright termination of the 40% tax. Its leaders contend a repeal wouldn’t survive long-term, essentially lulling the wealthy into a false sense of complacency in their estate planning.
“Our goal is permanent stability in this section of the tax code so people can make thoughtful decisions,” said Marc Cadin, the group’s CEO.
Cadin sees making permanent the estate tax provisions in Trump’s 2017 tax law — which limit the levy so that it only covers 0.1% of Americans, according to 2022 IRS data — as the key to that stability. That law, which expires at the end of this year, exempts estates worth up to $13.99 million for an individual and double that for a married couple.
Cadin’s stance is at odds with more than 200 groups representing car dealers, farm interests, construction companies, funeral directors, plastics manufacturers, alcoholic beverage distributors, dude ranchers, and grocers that have lined up to back Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s bid to repeal the estate tax.
“Family businesses waste money every year on expensive estate planners, attorneys and accountants to help protect their businesses from the estate tax,” said Palmer Schoening, a longtime lobbyist for repeal who represents a coalition of family-owned businesses.
Schoening argues the tax puts his clients at a disadvantage to publicly traded companies, and collectively costs them billions in paperwork. “This is all money that could be better used to reinvest,” he said. He said lobbies like Finseca are trying to protect their industry’s revenue.
For more information see Ben Steverman and Steven T. Dennis “Estate Tax Repeal Faces Unlikely Foe: Insurance Advisors Of The Rich,” Financial Advisor, May 5, 2025.
Special thanks to Joel C. Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/trusts_estates_prof/2025/05/estate-tax-repeal-faces-unlikely-foe-insurance-advisors-of-the-rich.html