Estate tax computation, deep dive

What estate tax actually is (and isn't)

Estate tax is a tax on the right to transfer property from someone who has died to their heirs, computed on the net value of everything they left behind. It's a separate, one-time computation, not an ongoing tax the heirs pay, and it has to be settled before property can be legally transferred into the heirs' names. A related course on this site, estate planning and wills, covers the legal tools like wills, trusts, and guardianship that decide who gets what. This course goes deep on a narrower, more mechanical question: once it's decided who inherits, how does the government actually calculate and collect the tax owed.