One of the commenters on this post made the salient point that the existence of the estate tax is probably one of the biggest drivers for the life insurance industry.
Every tragedy benefits someone. Right now the makers of Purell and other instant hand sanitizers are having banner years due to swine flu. That isn't an argument in favor of epidemics. Oil companies made a fortune due to increased demand when people started flying less after 9/11. That isn't an argument in favor of terrorism.
I think the point is more then this. It brings up a question: can you really stop people from leaving wealth to their children in some way? How many loose ends will you need to chase down. Inheritance is intertwined with property & ownership.
Life insurance is one way around estate taxes. I'm sure there are others.
