Family Business Protection Act of 1997

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Relief for All Individuals

Title II: Additional Relief for Family-Owned Businesses and

Farms

Title III: Benefits for Conservation Easements

Title IV: Benefits for Historic Preservation

Family Business Protection Act of 1997 - Title I: Relief for All Individuals - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to replace the unified credit against the estate tax and the unified credit against the gift tax with a unified exemption amount.

Title II: Additional Relief for Family-Owned Businesses and Farms - Excludes from the value of the gross estate of certain decedents specified portions of qualified family-owned business interests.

Title III: Benefits for Conservation Easements - Excludes from the gross estate, if the executor elects, the value of land subject to a qualified conservation easement, except for any debt-financed portion. Provides for the treatment of any retained development right. Adds references to such property to provisions controlling the basis of property acquired from a decedent.

(Sec. 302) Prohibits treating the transfer by gift of land subject to a qualified conservation easement as a transfer of property by gift for purposes of provisions relating to gift taxes.

(Sec. 303) Amends provisions relating to the valuation of certain farm and other real property to prohibit a qualified conservation contribution (as defined in provisions relating to charitable contributions) from being deemed a disposition unless it is subject to a conservation easement. Declares that, if property is otherwise qualified real property, being subject to a conservation easement does not disqualify it.

(Sec. 304) Allows a contribution to be treated as exclusively for conservation purposes if the surface estate and mineral interests have been and remain separated (currently, if the surface estate and mineral interests were separated before June 13, 1976, and remain separated) and if the probability of surface mining is so remote as to be negligible.

Title IV: Benefits for Historic Preservation - Provides that for purposes of determining the estate tax the value of the taxable estate shall be determined by deducting from the value of the gross estate an amount equal to the value of any qualified historic property included in the estate.