Portability: A Planning Game Changer

• Published in: The Planner p. 1D
• Main Author: Siegel, Steven
• Format: Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York American Institute of Certified Public Accountants 01.11.2013
• Subjects: Conferences; Couples; CPAs; Death benefits; Estate planning; Estate taxes; Exclusion; Executors; Siegel, Steven G; Tax returns; Transfer taxes; United States > US
• ISSN: 0895-3570

In an interview, Steven G. Siegel, principal of The Siegel Group, who presented the Web seminar, "Portability: A Planning Game-Changer, But Not as Simple as It Appears," in September 2013, talked about portability and to discover what CPA financial planners need to know about this topic. Portability allows the estate of a decedent who is survived by a spouse to transfer the decedent's unused federal transfer tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The surviving spouse can then use the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to address the survivor's transfers during life and at death. There are several points you should know about portability. First, portability is elective, not automatic. Federal Form 706 must be filed for the estate of the predeceased spouse regardless of the size of the estate or whether the estate is otherwise required to file an estate tax return. Second, representatives and survivors may be reluctant to incur the cost of preparing the Form 706. However, it is suggested that taking this position is incorrect.