A married couple can usually defer all federal estate tax until the second death. If the surviving spouse is not a United States citizen, the marital deduction is not allowed, green card or not. The qualified domestic trust restores it. Property passing to a QDOT qualifies for the deduction if at least one trustee is a U.S. citizen or domestic corporation, a bank serves or a bond is posted when the trust exceeds $2 million, and the executor makes the election. The tax is deferred rather than eliminated: income to the spouse is free of it, principal distributions and the balance at the spouse's death are taxed as part of the first estate, with a hardship exception.
A QDOT can be created after death by the spouse or executor before the estate tax return is filed. The alternatives are citizenship before the return is filed, lifetime gifts to the non-citizen spouse within the $194,000 annual cap for 2026, and reliance on the first spouse's own $15 million exemption for property left outright. Jointly held property also loses the usual half inclusion rule. None of this requires a change in anyone's immigration status; it requires documents that reflect the family as it is.
The full piece is at turnipseed.law.
