Estate tax planning for married couples usually involves dividing the estate of the first spouse to die (sometimes referred to as the "deceased spouse") into two shares. One share is the portion of the deceased spouse's estate that is exempt from estate tax (this amount, which is sometimes referred to as the "Tax Free Amount," is $13,990,000 in 2025). The $13,990,000 Tax Free Amount in 2025 is the $10 million basic exclusion amount per the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in December 2017, adjusted for inflation. The provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are scheduled to "sunset" (expire) at the end of 2025. Thus, unless those provisions are extended per federal legislation enacted in 2025, on January 1, 2026, the Tax Free Amount will drop back down to $5 million (the basic exclusion amount in effect prior to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act), and, when adjusted for inflation, is likely to be approximately $7 million. The balance of the deceased spouse's estate, i.e., the amount that exceeds the deceased spouse's estate tax exemption amount in the year of death, passes to the surviving spouse (or to a Marital Trust for the benefit of the surviving spouse) to defer estate taxes on that excess amount. This excess amount is referred to as the "Marital Deduction Amount."