A common financial mistake married farm couples make occurs when the first spouse dies, and the surviving spouse fails to “elect portability.” It’s a process by which any unused federal gift or estate ...

The IRS on Thursday issued Notice 2011-82 to alert executors of the estates of decedents dying after Dec. 31, 2010, of the need to file a Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping ...

One of the most overlooked and misunderstood tax laws – available to married farming couples – is an opportunity called portability. When one of the spouses dies, the surviving spouse can make a ...

Last December, Congress pushed through a whole set of changes meant to make them look good on Election Day things easier for taxpayers. One of the changes was the new portability provision which ...

The new Part 6 of the draft Form 706 states that a decedent with a surviving spouse elects portability of the DSUE amount, if any, by completing and timely filing the Form 706. No further action is ...

Many CPAs are involved in representing estates of decedents who died in 2011 and 2012. In dealing with such estates, it is important to focus on the new Code provisions allowing portability of the ...

When someone passes away, what the person passes down to his or her beneficiaries may be subject to federal estate taxes. If the decedent “skips” a generation in passing along assets then it may ...

On Oct. 4, the Internal Revenue Service posted final Form 706 for individuals dying in 2012. It posted final updated instructions on Oct. 12. Here’s an overview of the new form and instructions and ...

One of the great challenges in financial planning is figuring out how to transfer wealth from one generation to the next in the most tax efficient manner possible. Tax efficiency, in this context, ...

As discussed in earlier posts, portability allows the first spouse to die to transfer his/ her unused estate tax applicable exclusion amount to the surviving spouse, who can then use it for his/her ...