Carrie was the administrator of her daughter's estate. Her daughter, Nina, was an artist. Mixed in with her original works of art were works of other artists, some famous. The court appointed appraiser put a value of $750,000 on Nina's art collection. The appraiser Carrie hired put the value at $450,000. A local auction house accepted the artwork for sale, receiving proceeds of $1,200,000. Which amount should be used for estate tax purposes?

Judith's will designated her daughter, Martha, as the executor. Her mother had a mistrust of banks, so she had many small accounts at several local banks. After Martha closes out all the small accounts, where should she deposit the money?

Elisa died two weeks ago. Her will designated her sister, Louise, as the executor. Other beneficiaries of the estate were her children, Sylvia and Carl (who were minors) and her other siblings, Claudia and Pierce. Elisa owned 5,000 shares of a utility stock as part of her portfolio. Louise was unsatisfied with the value of the stock and decided to sell the shares and invest the money in riskier stocks. By the time the estate's assets were to be distributed, the portfolio had shrunk by 30%. Whose share of the estate should be reduced?