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 ...

On Tuesday, the IRS posted a draft version of the instructions to Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, a follow-up to the draft Form 706 that was posted in ...

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 ...

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 ...

If your estate and lifetime gift amounts are below the exemption amount, you do not have to file Form 706. However, there are reasons to file Form 706 if you are below the estate planning threshold.

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 key changes of the 2010 Tax Relief Act is the addition of “portability” of the first deceased spouse’s unused basic exclusion amount, commonly referred to as the deceased spousal unused ...

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 ...

A single piece of paperwork can quietly determine whether a surviving spouse keeps or loses millions in tax protection. That sounds dramatic, but it's exactly what's at stake with estate portability.

The IRS has just changed the timeframe for filing a late portability election for federal estate tax purposes. This is extremely important to those who did not timely file a federal estate tax return ...