Death tax


Reaching beyond the grave
This one I really found telling, it's commenting on why Anne Leibovitz had to borrow money.

…same-sex couples do not have the same privileges as straight married couples when it comes to inheritance. If your partner passes away and leaves her estate to you, you have to pay up to 50 percent of the value of your inheritance in taxes. However, if you and your partner were recognized as a married couple, you wouldn’t have to pay a dime.

And it is precisely this unjust double standard that got Annie Leibovitz into financial trouble.

When Sontag died in 2004, she bequeathed several properties to Leibovitz, who was forced to pony up half of their value to keep them. Yes, she makes a nice chunk of change from Vanity Fair, and yes, she probably could have just sold the properties when the market was good in 2004, but that’s not really the point.

The point is she should never have been in the position of paying or selling to not pay as much in the first place. Her wealth and poor decision-making are incidental.

That last sentence of the quote is the killer. Yes, it's unfair that single sex couples are singled out. But they are only singled out if traditional couples and single sex couples are the only ones considered.

It's even worse that everyone who inherits EXCEPT a legal spouse has to pay tax.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - March 2, 2009 at 02:42 PM  Tag


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