If they got rid of them everyone would starve to death. 

Think of WL as a more conservative option.You're not looking to beat the markets with these either way... it's to fund other investments like RE or other businesses.The basic concept is to "squash" the death benefit as much as possible with certain design options. 

I was giving my accountant very detailed records with many categories of spending, miles driven, tolls paid, everything super detailed.

However taxes are likely of limited consequence as there is a step up in basis after it passes to the estate upon her death.

 This post and @Will Barnard's terrible situation is the epitome of what Phillip K Howard discusses in his book The Death Of Common Sense.

Miller and Smith and Toll Brothers as examples have in house brokers.

Upon your death you can leave to your heirs in a stepped up basis wiping out past deferred gains if set up correctly.

They are often motivated by the 3 Ds-debt, divorce, death.

@Amanda Carrillo, for all counties except Jefferson, death before tax auction and wrong name called off at auction = void sale.Death after auction is a good sale.Change in ownership before auction (via sale or foreclosure) and wrong name called off at auction = void sale.

There's actually a lot more to the whole equation, and it's been talked to death, but let me quickly illustrate a few more advantages to mortgage debt.- it's deductible on your taxes, provided you itemize (which every real estate investor should)- you're borrowing in today's dollars, but paying in future dollars; inflation over time for the USD tends to hover around 2% per year (Fed's goal, although at the moment it's slightly less), and mortgages right now are well below 4%, thus really meaning that you end up with only a <2% cost year on year, all else being equal- the cash you haven't spent on your property can go to other places, such as more real estate, the stock market (historical long-term yields of 7.5%), or giant billboards with you making a silly face on them (yield: priceless) All that being said, make sure you have a bit of a buffer and a few exit strategies.