Jan 1, 2005 12:00 PM

, By Charles L. Ratner, national director, Personal Insurance Counseling and managing director, The Er

By Charles L. Ratner, national director, Personal Insurance Counseling and managing director, The Er

The past year was difficult for life insurance in estate planning. This year will be worse. But the astute insurance professional and other members of the estate-planning team will find much to capitalize on by riding the paradigm shift.

Though we got the final regulations for split dollar in 2003, most of us were so busy dealing with the December 2003 deadline for existing equity plans that we put the new regulations on the back burner until January. Then, when we took a careful look at the new split dollar regime, we began to realize just how much we hadn't realized. In February, the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations on the valuation of life insurance contracts transferred from qualified plans or corporations. The regulations aren't final yet, but funeral arrangements for pension rescue plans certainly are. In November, we saw the re-election of an administration that is committed to the repeal of what it disparagingly refers to as the “death tax.”