What is the marital deduction?
The Internal Revenue Service allows an individual to leave any amount of assets to his or her spouse without taxation. At the death of the surviving spouse, however, all assets in the estate over $1.5 million will be included in the survivor’s taxable estate; estate taxes on assets above $1.5 million begin at a rate of 45 percent and increase to 48 percent.
A. The Internal Revenue Service allows an individual to leave any amount of assets to his or her spouse without taxation. At the death of the surviving spouse, however, all assets in the estate over the Applicable Exclusion Amount ($3.5 million as of 2009) will be included in the survivor’s taxable estate.
