Most of us are not concerned about federal estate taxes that now exempt $5.25 million estate value from taxation. We figure we'll slide in under that ceiling.

But 21 states and the District of Columbia still impose an estate tax of some kind, and the exemption level is much lower.

Time was, there was a credit that cut the federal tax bill by whatever was paid to the state; as long as the estate was paying, it didn't much matter where the money went. That credit was repealed in 2005. Even if the estate doesn't owe the federal government, the tax bill can be huge.

New Jersey taxes everything over $675,000; Rhode Island's tax hits estates over $910,725, and New York's exemption is $1 million, and state laws keep changing. Home, retirement account, maybe even insurance, can be hit. More: eight states impose inheritance taxes, paid not by the estate but by the heirs.

For nearly 30 years, Mike Nickerson has owned and managed a small, full-service accounting practice in the Midcoast. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from University of Southern Main and a master's degree in financial planning from Bentley University.

He is a past board member and president of the Maine Society of Certified Public Accountants and currently serves on the Maine Board of Accountancy.

An aged rock musician, Nickerson now finds musical enjoyment playing upright and electric bass in a variety of bands spanning folk to jazz music genres. He and his wife have three grown children, and they enjoy their free time hiking, kayaking, golfing, bicycling and motorcycling.