Portability Election Calculator: the facts

1. Each person can leave $15 million free of federal estate tax in 2026. Whatever a first spouse does not use, because everything went to the survivor or to charity, can be added to the survivor's own exclusion (§ 2010(c)(2), (4)), but only if the first estate files an estate tax return and elects it (§ 2010(c)(5)).
2. Without the election, the unused amount is lost when the survivor dies with more than their own exclusion. With it, a couple can shelter $30 million in all, at 40% on the excess.
3. Example: the first spouse leaves everything to the survivor, using none of the exclusion. If the survivor later dies with $20 million, the federal tax is $2,000,000 without the election and $0 with it.
4. The return is due nine months after the death, but an estate not otherwise required to file may make the election on a return filed within 5 years (Rev. Proc. 2022-32). After that, the amount is gone.
5. Illinois has no portability: its $4 million exclusion is per person and unused amounts are lost at the first death, which is why Illinois couples still use trusts at the first death to preserve the first spouse's exclusion.
6. The election costs a return, an appraisal, and a fee, at a time when the estate seems too small to matter; the survivor's estate grows, the law can change, and the filing is the only way to keep the option.

Educational only, not investment, tax, or legal advice. Results are hypothetical estimates that vary with each use and over time and are not guaranteed accurate or complete. Using this tool creates no client relationship with Considerate Capital, and the site that linked here is not affiliated with it. By using it you agree to the tool terms.