{"id":4450,"date":"2018-01-12T12:42:24","date_gmt":"2018-01-12T17:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/?p=4450"},"modified":"2020-04-17T12:47:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T16:47:00","slug":"portability-examination-of-a-predeceased-spouses-estate-tax-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/portability-examination-of-a-predeceased-spouses-estate-tax-return.html","title":{"rendered":"Portability &#8211; Examination of a Predeceased Spouse\u2019s Estate Tax Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent case that is a cautionary tale to preparers of federal estate tax returns, the Tax Court held that the IRS was permitted to examine the estate tax return of the first spouse to die in determining the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount (DSUE) available to the estate of the surviving spouse.\u00a0 The result was an increase to the federal estate tax in the estate of the second spouse.<\/p>\n<p>A husband died in 2012 and his estate reported his DSUE on form 706, the federal estate tax return, and elected portability of the DSUE to the surviving spouse.\u00a0 The IRS sent the husband\u2019s estate a federal estate tax closing letter reporting the return was accepted as filed.\u00a0 When the wife died in 2013, her estate claimed the DSUE reported by the husband\u2019s estate.\u00a0 As part of the examination of the wife\u2019s federal estate tax return, the IRS also examined the 706 filed by the husband\u2019s estate.\u00a0 Without determining a deficiency against the husband\u2019s estate, the IRS reduced the amount of the husband\u2019s DSUE by the amount of taxable gifts given by husband during his life.\u00a0 This reduction in the DSUE reduced the total exclusion available in the wife\u2019s estate and resulted in an increase of the estate tax.<\/p>\n<p>Several holdings by the court are noteworthy:<\/p>\n<div class=\"read_more_link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/portability-examination-of-a-predeceased-spouses-estate-tax-return.html\"  title=\"Continue Reading Portability &#8211; Examination of a Predeceased Spouse\u2019s Estate Tax Return\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent case that is a cautionary tale to preparers of federal estate tax returns, the Tax Court held that the IRS was permitted to examine the estate tax return of the first spouse to die in determining the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount (DSUE) available to the estate of the surviving spouse.\u00a0 The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[293,65,343],"tags":[],"coauthors":[295],"class_list":["post-4450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-robbins","category-insights","category-wills-trusts-estates-insights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Portability - Examination of a Predeceased Spouse\u2019s Estate Tax Return &#8212; January 12, 2018 &#8212; Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook &amp; Cooper, P.C. 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Firm News &amp; Events","og_description":"In a recent case that is a cautionary tale to preparers of federal estate tax returns, the Tax Court held that the IRS was permitted to examine the estate","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/portability-examination-of-a-predeceased-spouses-estate-tax-return.html","og_site_name":"Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook &amp; Cooper, P.C. Firm News &amp; Events","article_published_time":"2018-01-12T17:42:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-04-17T16:47:00+00:00","author":"Anne Marie Robbins","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anne Marie Robbins","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/portability-examination-of-a-predeceased-spouses-estate-tax-return.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/portability-examination-of-a-predeceased-spouses-estate-tax-return.html"},"author":{"name":"Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook &amp; Cooper, P.C.","@id":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/#\/schema\/person\/429b3bd6b52a7aa6eb9a0709bbb4d06f"},"headline":"Portability &#8211; Examination of a Predeceased Spouse\u2019s Estate Tax Return","datePublished":"2018-01-12T17:42:24+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-17T16:47:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/portability-examination-of-a-predeceased-spouses-estate-tax-return.html"},"wordCount":405,"articleSection":["Anne Marie Robbins","Insights","Wills, Trusts &amp; Estates"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/portability-examination-of-a-predeceased-spouses-estate-tax-return.html","url":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/portability-examination-of-a-predeceased-spouses-estate-tax-return.html","name":"Portability - Examination of a Predeceased Spouse\u2019s Estate Tax Return &#8212; January 12, 2018 &#8212; Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook &amp; Cooper, P.C. 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