Lifetime Exclusion (Basic Exclusion Amount)
Chapters in this video
- 0:00 The $15 million basic exclusion amount and the lifetime-or-death combined bucket
- 1:28 Doubling to $30 million for married couples
- 2:29 Portability is never automatic: the Form 706 trap
- 3:04 DSUE math: calculating and transferring unused exclusion
- 4:07 The last deceased spouse rule and remarriage forfeiture
- 4:45 GST exemption is not portable
- 5:18 Unlimited marital deduction for citizen spouses
- 6:02 Non-citizen spouse limits: $194,000 annual gift cap
- 7:07 QDOT requirement at death for non-citizen spouses
- 7:38 Rapid-fire exam recap
What this video covers
- How the 2026 basic exclusion amount of $15 million per individual operates as one combined bucket for lifetime gifts and estate transfers
- Why married couples can shield $30 million combined, and how the math changes when one spouse dies with unused exclusion remaining
- What portability is, why it requires filing Form 706 even when zero estate tax is owed, and what happens when the executor skips the paperwork
- How to calculate deceased spousal unused exclusion (DSUE) and apply it to the surviving spouse's available exclusion
- Why the DSUE comes only from the last deceased spouse, and the trap of forfeiting a prior spouse's unused exclusion upon remarriage
- Why the generation-skipping transfer tax (GST) exemption is not portable, and when GST concerns arise
- How the unlimited marital deduction works for citizen spouses, and why non-citizen spouses face a $194,000 annual gift cap and require a qualified domestic trust (QDOT) at death
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