5 Under the will, the marital share funds the marital trust and is "hereinafter defined." The nonmarital share is the balance of the residuary estate after deducting the marital share. The nonmarital share is allocated "as hereinafter provided." The second paragraph of item III defines the marital share. It provides: The marital share shall be an amount equal to the value of my residuary estate, reduced by the largest amount which, when added to the amount of any adjusted taxable gifts made by me during my lifetime, will be subject to federal estate tax under section 2001 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any successor provision, at a marginal rate of less than 50%. To calculate the marital share, we start with the residuary estate, as provided under the first paragraph of item III. Next we must calculate the largest amount (LA), which, when added to lifetime gifts (LG), will be taxed at a marginal rate of less than 50 percent. To tax the sum of the largest amount and the lifetime gifts at a marginal rate of less then 50 percent, we must consider the entire taxable estate. The entire taxable estate consists of the nonmarital share, as hereinafter determined, the lifetime gifts, and the bequests to the grandchildren (BG).3 3 The specific bequests to the spouse would not be part of the taxable estate as those bequests qualify for the marital deduction.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011