Your beloved spouse has passed away. The last thing you need is extra paperwork. But…sometimes completing an extra form can mean the difference in literally millions – $5.25 million to be exact – able to be passed free of federal estate taxes upon your death to your loved ones.
Completing a US Form 706 (US Gross Estate Tax Return) allows a decedent who is married and does not fully use his $5,250,000 exemption, to pass his unused exemption (“Decease Spousal Unused Exclusion or DSUE”) to his spouse. This is known as portability.
What does this mean in practical terms?