Well, your anecdote may apply in Texas. It does not match the experience of my extended family in Iowa and Minnesota. (currently doing estate taxes for my fathe

Well, your anecdote may apply in Texas. It does not match the experience of my extended family in Iowa and Minnesota. (currently doing estate taxes for my father-in-law's dairy farm, FWIW). The current estate tax threshold largely misses real family farms, but it doesn't have to move much to become a disaster. When I was in high school I personally witnessed neighbor widdows being beggared by the then ridiculous estate tax threshold. That memory is seared into my brain.