Tag Archives: Avoiding the pitfalls of ‘portability’

In the parlance of estate planning, “portability” refers to the ability to transfer unused estate tax exemption of a deceased spouse over to the surviving spouse, who can then add it to his or her own exemption. By doing this, it may be possible for the surviving spouse to use those accumulated exemptions decades later to shield assets from the state tax at his or her death. But portability is not a magic bullet, and there are risks if you don’t plan ahead. You need to be aware of the following limitations: 1) Portability does not apply to state death …