Estate Tax Treatment of Life insurance proceeds from the US

[LuckyG]

Does anyone here know of any US citizen who left life insurance proceeds to a Non-Spousal, non-US citizen Thai beneficiary and if Estate tax was withheld by the US?  I am seeking clarity on how death benefits that i leave to my Thai girlfriend would be treated, specifically Tax code support of how the Unified Credit applies to a non-US citizen beneficiary. 

To keep it simple, lets use this scenario: A US Citizen who is not married and has a US address and files a tax return annually.  His net worth is minimal and he will leave $300,000 death benefit to a Thai girlfriend who is not a US Citizen and does not live in the USA. Would the $300,000 be subject to Estate taxes?  Where can i obtain tax code support?  and yes i have combed the IRS website and spoken to a number of professionals  with various opinions and assumptions but nothing concrete.  Anybody know of anyone who experienced something like this??? Thanks

[Zaphod]

It's my understanding, if the person the life insurance proceeds goes to is the beneficiary listed on the policy, those monies are considered "outside" the estate and not subject to any estate tax. It doesn't matter if the person is a US citizen or not, anywhere in the world. I've heard this on a Saturday morning radio show dealing with estates, taxes and such,  that plays here in the DC area - WMAL @ 0900 Saturday morning Washington time

[LuckyG]

Thanks Zaphod but that is definitely INCORRECT.  I sold life insurance for 25 years in the states and was very active in Estate Planning.  The policy needs to be owned by an entity or someone else for it to be considered "out of the estate".  Google "incidence of ownership" of life insurance for more clarity.