Portability and the DSUE Election
Electing to carry over a deceased spouse's unused exclusion: the return requirement, the late-election relief, the last-deceased-spouse limit, and when a bypass trust still wins.
What this guide covers
- DSUE is available only by filing a complete United States Estate Tax Return, timely or under the simplified extension, even when no tax is due.
- In 2026 each decedent has a $15,000,000 exclusion, producing a $30,000,000 combined figure only if the election is actually made.
- Rev. Proc. 2022-32 gives estates not otherwise required to file five years from death to make the election; treat it as a standing intake question for widowed clients.
- DSUE is fixed, not indexed, limited to the last deceased spouse, and useless for GST purposes.
- A funded credit-shelter trust still wins where appreciation, GST exemption, creditor protection, remainder control, or a decoupled state tax is in play.
- Address the election, its cost, and the resulting conflicts in the instrument rather than leaving them to a post-mortem negotiation.
The full guide includes the detailed analysis, worked examples, statutory citations, and related resources below.
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Educational reference, not legal advice. Prepared for licensed professionals as general reference; not legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is created. Law varies by state and changes over time — verify transfer-tax figures and statutory citations against current primary authority. This resource was last updated 2026-09-18. Estateur is not a law firm.