10 Marital Deduction Clauses (6 Pages)

SAVE when you purchase 10 Marital Deduction Clauses.  Here are the 10 included:

1. Administrative Provisions (Directions to the Fiduciary) - 3 CLAUSES (1 Page)

To be Used in Connection with the Alternative Pecuniary Marital Shares.  The three clauses include:  True Worth Pecuniary,Minimum Worth Pecuniary, and Fairly Representative Pecuniary.

2. Marital Fractional Share Formula Clauses - 2 CLAUSES (1 Page)

Used to create a formula bequest to a spouse, rather than a fixed amount as used in a pecuniary share. These clauses eliminate the potential gain that could arise on funding a pecuniary legacy, but are more complex to address in the course of estate administration. The two clauses include:  Reduce to Zero Approach and Equalization Approach.

3. Pecuniary Credit Shelter for Use in a Will (1 Page)

Use to initially create the marital share with the entire residuary estate, and then reduce the marital gift by the maximum amount of the then available applicable exclusion.

4. Pecuniary Formula Clauses - 2 CLAUSES (1 Page)

Use to leave an amount of property to the surviving spouse as the marital share taking into account the amount passing to a unified credit share of the estate. The two clauses are:  Reduce To Zero Approach andEqualization Approach (create equal estates of the spouses at the death of the first spouse to die).

5. Pecuniary Marital Deduction Formula For Use in a Will (1 Page)

Use to first fund the applicable exclusion to the maximum extent as a pre-residuary disposition, then use this clause to create a gift for the spouse equal to the lowest amount of property needed to reduce the estate tax to zero.

6. Pick And Choose Fractional Share Marital Deduction Formula For Use In A Revocable Trust (1 Page)

This clause is used to create a fractional share, thereby avoiding the possible gain or loss issues that can arise in the case of a pecuniary share. The “pick and choose” aspect allows the fiduciary to select assets for funding the formula share – rather than being required to allocate a proportionate share of every asset the decedent possessed to the selected formula. The “pick and choose” formula gives more discretion to the fiduciary and avoids what could be an awkward fractional titling of the decedent’s assets.
 

Author: 

Steven G. Siegel is president of The Siegel Group, which provides consulting services to attorneys, accountants, business owners, family offices and financial planners. Based in Morristown, New Jersey, the Group provides services throughout the United States. Mr. Siegel is the author of many books, including: The Grantor Trust Answer Book (2012 and 2013 CCH); CPA’s Guide to Financial and Estate Planning (AICPA 2012); and Federal Fiduciary Income Taxation (Foxmoor 2012). In conjunction with numerous tax planning lectures he has delivered for the National Law Foundation, Mr. Siegel has prepared extensive lecture materials on the following subjects: Planning for An Aging Population; Business Entities: Start to Finish; Preparing the Audit-Proof Federal Estate Tax Return; Business Acquisitions: Representing Buyers and Sellers in the Sale of a Business; Dynasty Trusts; Planning with Intentionally-Defective Grantor Trusts, Introduction to Estate Planning; Intermediate-Sized Estate Planning; Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid: Explanation and Planning Strategies; Subchapter S Corporations: Using Trusts as Shareholders; Divorce and Separation: Important Tax Planning Issues; The Portability Election; Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax: A Comprehensive Review; and many other titles. Mr. Siegel has delivered hundreds of lectures to thousands of attendees in live venues and via webinars throughout the United States on tax, business and estate planning topics on behalf of numerous organizations, including The Heckerling Institute on Tax Planning, CCH, National Law Foundation, AICPA, Western CPE, the National Society of Accountants, the National Tax Institute, Cohn-Reznick, Professional Education Systems, Inc., Foxmoor Education, many State Accounting Societies and Estate Planning Councils as well as on behalf of private companies. He is presently serving as an adjunct professor of law in the Graduate Tax Program (LLM) of the University of Alabama, and has served as an adjunct professor of law at Seton Hall and Rutgers University law schools. Mr. Siegel holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University (magna cum laude, phi beta kappa), a juris doctor from Harvard Law School and an LLM in taxation from New York University Law School.