The Estate Tax Provisions of the Fiscal Cliff Tax Act

Forbes:  More Estate Tax Changes Could Follow Fiscal Cliff Deal, by Hani Sarji:

As you may already have learned, in the first two days of 2013, Congress passed a tax compromise that averts the “fiscal cliff” and makes permanent the federal estate tax with an exemption of $5.12 million per individual and a tax rate of 40% for amounts over the exemption. But this news bite might leave you hungry for details about the estate tax, such as portability of the exemption, and the other wealth transfer taxes–the gift tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax. This post aims to answer your questions and serve as a useful resource.