Domestic Trusts

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The Marital Qualified Domestic Trust (QDOT) RLT is a Co-Grantor Revocable Living Trust designed for a married couple wanting the primary benefits of a Marital Universal Trust but with a distinct restriction and an added feature. The acronym QDOT stands for "qualified domestic trust".

This trust format will qualify the QTIP portion of a trust, if used, for the marital deduction even though the surviving spouse is not a US citizen. It does so by expressly prohibiting the surviving spouse, if not then a US citizen to serve as a trustee of the QTIP portion of the trust.

If a non-citizen surviving spouse serves as a trustee of the QTIP portion of the trust, then the QTIP portion will not qualify for the marital deduction and will thus be subjected to estate tax in the grantor's estate immediately upon the grantor's decease.

Notwithstanding the QDOT restriction, the estate of the non-citizen spouse may still utilize the unified credit amount against any transfer tax against his/her estate upon death.

As well, if the non-citizen spouse is the first grantor to die then any of his/her assets ultimately funded to the QTIP Trust will qualify for the marital deduction even if his/her spouse serves as a trustee as long as such spouse is a US citizen.

$1,995.00