Sen. Orrin Hatch calls for end of estate tax as January 2013 'taxmageddon' looms

Planning for a boost in the estate tax law is especially important for farmers, Matt Olver, a senior wealth adviser and certified financial planner at Spero-Smith Investment Advisers in Cleveland told USA Today. Without a plan, heirs may face having to sell off part of the farm in order to pay the tax, he said.

On the state level, states like Indiana, Pennsylvania and Tennessee have made recent changes to estate and gift taxes, joining other states that have repealed such laws or raised the exemption rate. However, 22 states and the District of Columbia still impose estate and/or inheritance taxes for 2012.

"Once a few states get rid of the death tax, it becomes an argument in other states in terms of being competitive," Palmer Schoening, director of federal affairs for the American Family Business Institute told Forbes. "Capital is really mobile, and people are too."