The reality is filing the Form 706 is not only best practice ... the law notably increased the unified federal gift and estate tax exemption amounts (and generation-skipping transfer tax exemption ...

Portability: If the decedent was married, the executor might elect to transfer any unused federal estate tax exemption to the surviving spouse by filing a timely Form 706, even if no tax is due.

then your estate typically must file a federal estate tax return on Form 706 and pay any estate tax due. (The executor or ...

In this case, they are deductible only for determining the taxable estate for federal estate tax purposes and must be claimed on IRS Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping ...

Second, it is only available when the estate is required to file a federal estate tax return (Form 706), which is typically required if the gross estate exceeds the federal estate tax exemption ($ ...