Taxable Estate

The total value of a deceased person's assets that are subject to taxation - minus liabilities and minus the prescribed tax-deductible portion of assets left behind by the deceased.

Investopedia Says:
The following items can be deducted to determine the taxable portion of the estate: funeral expenses paid out of the estate, debts owed by the deceased at the time of death and value of the assets passed on to the deceased's spouse. The taxes imposed on the taxable portion of the estate are then paid out of the estate itself.

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Portion of an estate subject to the unified transfer tax of the federal government and to state taxes where applicable. The estate, not the recipients, is taxed on what remains after all expenses, contributions, transfers to a surviving spouse, debts, taxes, and losses. There is a federal Exclusion on property transferred by the person who died. According to the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, the amount of assets that each person can exclude from federal taxes is $2 million from 2006 through 2008, rising to $3.5 million in 2009. In 2010, the estate tax is completely repealed, and in 2011 the estate tax law returns using 2001 rules, except that the exemption returns to $1 million. Any assets passed to beneficiaries over these limits that are not protected by Trusts are assessed estate taxes at a 46% rate, falling to 45% from 2007 through 2009.

The amount to which the rate of estate tax is applied in order to determine the amount of estate tax payable. For federal estate tax purposes, it is the decedent's gross estate, i.e., all property in which the decedent had an interest at the time of death as well as specified other property, I.R.C. §§2033 et seq., less the estate tax deductions, such as marital and charitable deductions, I.R.C. §§2051 et seq. See tax [estate tax].