“Carol Page” got a call from the bank-an IRA from her deceased father was found and paperwork needed to be signed. But before the money was made available, a snag was discovered-her mother was named as the beneficiary, and unfortunately, her mother had recently died. The bank explained that now Page had to work with…

Prior to 2010, the concept of portability as a tax strategy simply did not exist. Any amount of a lifetime exemption that went unused by an estate was purely lost. However, in 2010 Congress passed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act (“the Act”), which introduced the ability to “port” unused exemption amounts between…