A surviving spouse may take advantage of the “portability” of an estate tax exemption to use a dead spouse’s unused gift and estate tax exemption. Additional benefits include tax deferrals, and the unnecessary need for estate equalization. These benefits positively impact retirement benefits. Despite the number of advantages, sometimes deferring to portability over trust techniques such as a bypass trust can cause you to miss potential benefits.
See Elizabeth I. Liu, Portability Helps Preserve Retirement Benefits, Wealth Strategies, Nov. 28, 2013.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.
