Dynasty trusts push that generation-skipping tax exemption to the max, putting the exempted amount beyond the reach of estate taxes for the life of the trust.

WSJ: Tax Report: Dynasty Trusts Under Attack

But did you know it's gotten a little currency beyond the world of real estate lending?

NPR: Word of the Year: Subprime

Within this context, and with completely unknowable timetables, it is imperative that families that potentially could benefit from estate planning that goes beyond the current exemption amounts, speak with their advisors immediately.

FORBES: Estate Planning Moves BEFORE Sequestration Is Resolved

Beyond stocks, bonds and real estate, the trip to Australia and New Zealand was revealing for another reason.

FORBES: Cruising Musings

Flirtations with her married estate-agent employer and the family priest never progress beyond mutual embarrassed allusion.

ECONOMIST: New fiction

Ralph Rosenberg, head of the real-estate group, has a preference for shopping beyond major metro areas where prices have been getting quite high.

WSJ: Plots & Ploys: Hole-Sale Real Estate

As attention shifts beyond immediate needs, one of the next steps for surviving spouses should be updating their own estate-planning documents, including their will, power of attorney and health-care proxy.

WSJ: Money Issues of Surviving Spouses

Los Angeles has more than its fair share of astronomically priced homes, but our annual list of the 500 most expensive ZIP codes in the U.S. shows that high-end real estate is expanding beyond Beverly Hills and Bel Air.

FORBES: The New High-Status ZIP Codes

Beyond raising taxes on dividends and capital gains, the GOP seems to have compromised on the estate tax (which would rise from 35% to 40%), while child tax credits and college tax credits should be extended for five years, according to Trade the News.

FORBES: Fiscal Cliff Deal Nears As Biden Convinces McConnell Of Raising Taxes On Those Making More Than $400K: Reports