There is a provision in the estate tax law called “portability”. This means that any unused estate tax applicable exclusion amount of a deceased spouse may be applied to the surviving spouse. In other words if you fell prey to ‘some day I’ll…’ the United States government has given a second chance to get it right.
This also means that what you never ‘got round to’ doing is now left to the responsible of your left behind spouse and heirs to figure out while they are grieving. This is not highly recommended.
Personally, as one who has been through this grieving process when my wealthy father passed away I do not recommend leaving estate decisions for a later day.
It is a recipe for relationship disaster in the family, tarnishing of the legacy of the deceased and potential net worth loss for the surviving spouse.
For more about this download the special report, The 7 Regrets Wealth Creates and How To Avoid Them.