# Marital Deduction: Definition and How It Works in California

> The marital deduction is the federal rule that lets a person leave or give an unlimited amount to a U.S. citizen spouse without tax.

Source: https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/marital-deduction/

By Eric Ridley, attorney, Ridley Law. Updated September 2026.

The **marital deduction** is the federal estate and gift tax rule that lets a person leave or give an unlimited amount to a spouse who is a United States citizen without triggering estate or gift tax. It defers the tax rather than eliminating it, since the assets are usually taxed again in the surviving spouse’s own estate.

## How it works in California

The marital deduction comes entirely from federal tax law, not California law. Under 26 U.S.C. § 2056(a), property that passes from a decedent to a surviving spouse and is included in the decedent’s gross estate qualifies for a deduction equal to its value, which is what makes transfers to a citizen spouse effectively unlimited for federal estate tax purposes.

The deduction does not apply automatically when the surviving spouse is not a United States citizen. Under 26 U.S.C. § 2056(d), the marital deduction is disallowed for a noncitizen spouse unless the property passes through a qualified domestic trust, often called a QDOT, which holds the assets and defers the tax the same way an outright transfer to a citizen spouse would.

## Why it matters

Deferral is not the same as elimination, and planning around the marital deduction has to account for the second death. For example, a married couple leaves everything outright to whichever spouse survives, relying entirely on the marital deduction to avoid tax at the first death; if the surviving spouse’s own estate is large enough, that spouse’s death can still trigger estate tax that better planning, such as a [bypass trust](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/bypass-trust/) or a portability election, could have reduced.

## Common mistakes

Treating the marital deduction as a way to avoid estate tax permanently instead of a way to defer it. Leaving property outright to a noncitizen spouse without a QDOT, which can disallow the deduction entirely. Assuming the marital deduction is available for a domestic partner the way it is for a legally married spouse; the federal deduction is tied to marriage.

## Related terms

- [QTIP Trust](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/qtip-trust/): a trust structure built to qualify for the marital deduction while still controlling where the property goes after the surviving spouse dies.
- [Portability](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/portability/): a separate federal election that can preserve a deceased spouse’s unused exclusion alongside the marital deduction.
- [Bypass Trust (AB Trust)](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/bypass-trust/): a planning tool that shelters the first spouse’s exclusion using something other than the marital deduction.
- [Survivor’s Trust](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/survivors-trust/): the share of a married couple’s trust the marital deduction is not needed for, since it already belongs to the surviving spouse.
- [Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/generation-skipping-transfer-tax/): a separate federal tax that can still apply to marital deduction property later, when it passes to a skip person.
- [Charitable Remainder Trust](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/charitable-remainder-trust/): uses a different federal deduction, for a charitable interest rather than a marital one.

Part of the [California estate planning glossary](https://ridleylawoffices.com/estate-planning-glossary-california/).