- 6 -
bequest, which is to be an amount that will take advantage of the
unified credit and any other estate tax credit available to
petitioner. (We shall refer to this sheltered amount as the
credit equivalent.) Petitioner argues that since the disclaimed
property was in an amount less than the credit equivalent, the
disclaimer had no effect upon the amount of the pecuniary marital
devise or upon the marital deduction.
In general, section 2056(a) provides, in pertinent part, as
follows:
the value of the taxable estate shall * * * be determined by
deducting from the value of the gross estate an amount equal
to the value of any interest in property which passes or has
passed from the decedent to his surviving spouse, but only
to the extent that such interest is included in determining
the value of the gross estate.
If a surviving spouse disclaims an interest in property passing
to such spouse from a decedent, the efficacy of the disclaimer
will be determined by section 2518 and the corresponding
regulations. Sec. 20.2056(d)-1, Estate Tax Regs. Under section
2518, if a qualified disclaimer is determined to have been made
by the surviving spouse, then for purposes of subtitle B--dealing
with estate and gift taxes--the property interest disclaimed is
treated as if it had never been transferred to the surviving
spouse. Sec. 2518(a); sec. 25.2518-1(b), Gift Tax Regs.; see
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011