Clark & Howell

We are Married. Can we still have a Joint Living Trust?

You have the option to prepare a Joint Trust along with all of the matching supporting documents for a “Non-traditional Couple”. We will determine the best type of Trust for you after taking into account your estate tax situation. Please note that only a legally married man and woman can use the Federal Estate Tax “unlimited marital deduction”; this means that, although the full exemption [currently $3.5M] is available at the first death, if the deceased party’s estate is greater that the exemption, there will be a tax due at the first death (even with the trust). However, by properly structuring the trust, you can keep the exemption amount from being taxed at the second death (which means the two of you can leave up to $7M in assets free of Federal Estate Tax!