Tax

Portability and Form 706

  • tax
작성
The Estate Guide Research Desk
검토
Editorial standards review
최종 검토일
과세연도
2026
관할권
United States (general; state law varies)

간단한 설명

Portability can allow a surviving spouse to use a deceased spouse's unused federal exclusion, but the deceased spouse's estate generally must make a valid election on Form 706 or qualify for available relief.

A federal election that states may not follow
Portability is a federal election; state treatment may differ.
The GST exemption does not port
It does not port the deceased spouse's GST exemption.
Remarriage can change which exclusion is available
Remarriage and the identity of the last deceased spouse can matter.
Even a nontaxable estate faces a filing decision
A portability filing requires a deliberate deadline and documentation decision even for a nontaxable estate.

The four parts of a working plan

  1. People Identify the owner, decision-makers, fiduciaries, and beneficiaries.
  2. Property Map title, contract rights, debts, tax attributes, and practical access.
  3. Documents Coordinate wills, trusts, powers, directives, and beneficiary forms.
  4. Review Revisit the plan after life, ownership, law, tax, or relationship changes.
A general educational sequence. A real matter can follow a different path.

더 깊이 알아보기

Portability lets a surviving spouse add a deceased spouse's unused exclusion to their own, but only if the first estate makes the election. The sections below cover the filing, its limits and how remarriage affects it.

일반적으로 검토하는 사람

Widows and widowers, executors of a first spouse's estate that owes no tax, and couples comparing a bypass trust with portability.

Tax lens

The election is made on a timely filed Form 706, and the IRS offers simplified late-election relief within five years of death for estates not otherwise required to file (Rev. Proc. 2022-32). The ported amount is fixed at the first death and is not indexed for inflation, and GST exemption does not port.

관련 질문 Portability and Form 706

Does state law matter?

Usually. Document execution, probate, spousal rights, creditor rules, trust administration, and state tax treatment can vary by jurisdiction.

What should be verified before acting?

Verify the current governing instrument, title and beneficiary records, applicable state law, current tax year, primary authority, and advice from appropriately qualified professionals.

Sources

최종 검토일August 21, 2026

과세연도2026

관할권United States (general; state law varies)

  1. IRS Form 706 and instructionsInternal Revenue Service · United States—federal
  2. Internal Revenue Code, estate and gift tax subtitleU.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel · United States—federal

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