I have reviewed the assets in my estate. The only legal real estate assets in the estate is my trusteeship of the Virginia property.  If I died today and were responsible for the settlement of my estate, I would file no Federal or State estate tax return at all because the assets are under one million dollars and no estate tax return is required.

Both filing an estate tax return and not filing an estate tax return entail legal and financial uncertainties and risks. On the basis of insights which I have gained into the functioning of the State government over the past decade, and because of spurious legal issues which might arise, I judge these risks to be substantially less if no return is filed.

To assess the validity of my hypothetical decision, it is reasonable to review the assets in my estate and their history with one of more experienced tax attorneys.  

EJM
August 15, 2017