Estate taxes

An estate tax (whether levied by the federal government, or by a state) is a death tax imposed on the right to transfer wealth at death. With a very few exceptions, the relationship between the one who transfers the wealth, and the one who receives the wealth, does not matter for purposes of computing the amount of the tax. This is to be contrasted with an inheritance tax, where the relationship between the transferor and the recipient is important to the computation of tax liability.