Category Archives: Estate Tax  Lifetime Gifts   Portability:
Worth Filing an Estate Tax Return?  Dear Liza: It is my
understanding that in order to preserve the “portability
exemption” a surviving spouse must file an estate tax return 
(706), which would not be required otherwise. It seems that 706
involves quite a bit of work and additional expenses. Do you
think it’s worth the effort?  Surviving spouses of those who
died in 2011 and 2012 have that decision to make. The problem
is, there’s not an easy answer.  For those who don’t know what
the question is, here’s a quick summary: Current estate tax law
allows a surviving spouse to use any part of the $5 million
exclusion from the estate tax that was available to their
deceased spouse but not used by that spouse.  For example, if
your spouse died in 2011, and their part of the estate was $1
million, you could use that extra $4 million dollars of unused
exclusion to further reduce any estate tax due at your death.
Your spouse’s exclusion would be portable to y