Both the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax (on assets given to grandchildren) were repealed at the end of 2009.
Both taxes are scheduled to return in 2011 at the unfavorable rates that applied 10 years earlier. The amount that is exempt from each of these taxes will then be $1 million, and the tax on the rest will be 55 percent.
There is still a gift tax if you give away more than $1 million during your lifetime, but the tax rate has been reduced from 45 percent to 35 percent.