Join Guy Ziriak Sales Vice President at Northeast Brokerage and William F. Coyne, Jr. Estate Planning Attorney with Boston Legacy Planning as they discuss The Mass DOR is planning a rude surprise for your clients. What you can do about it. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue has recently been taking a position that results in double estate taxation of the marital home. Contrary to federal law, it treats the continued occupation of the marital home by one spouse after transfer to the other spouse’s trust as a “retained life estate” justifying inclusion under Section 2036 of the Code. As a result, half of the value of the house is included in the estate of the first-to-die, and the full value is included in the estate of the second-to-die. The same argument could be used to create double taxation in many other situations.
1 CFP CE pending approval.