Definition of "Marital deduction"

Tax deduction permitted upon the transfer of property from one spouse to another. The deduction is allowed under the federal gift tax for lifetime transfers or under the federal estate tax for transfers of a decedent.

Comments for Marital Deduction

Carolyn Mingo Carolyn Mingo said:

If an owner gets married after they bought a home, now divorcing does the other have rights to property?

Feb 05, 2020  09:53:02

 
Real Estate Agent

Hey, Carolyn! Well, it depends. It is common for couples to decide between them how they are going to the divided property. But, if they cant come to an agreement, the property dispute is taken to court. Here is where things are decided a bit differently in some states compared to others. There is the so-called, community property and equitable distribution. The community property scheme is used by courts in Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico, Washington, Wisconsin, and Puerto Rico to settle property disputes. In these states, the property can be classified as community property or property equally owned by both spouses or it can be classified as separate property of one spouse. If the couple goes through a divorce, community property is divided equally between the spouses and each spouse gets to keep their separate property. On the other hand, courts in all the other states use a scheme called equitable distribution. This means that assets, earnings, and property accumulated during a marriage is fairly distributed between the spouses at divorce, but not necessarily equally. In some cases, judges might ask one of the spouses to use separate property to make a fair settlement. The division is not necessarily physical, but rather it refers to the value of the property, therefore one spouse might receive a percentage of the total value of the property. We have an article about divorce and real estate that talk about these things more in-depth, so you might want to check it out.

Apr 10, 2020  09:23:19
 
 
image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

The prime rate, a benchmark interest rate banks use, plays a significant role in the real estate market. Essentially, it’s the interest rate that commercial banks charge their most ...

An offering of securities, stock and/or debt, directly to investors rather then through the public exchange markets. An advantage of a private placement to a real estate business is that ...

(1) Judgment against a defendant who does not respond to the plaintiffs lawsuit or fails to appear in court at the hearing or trial date. (2) Judgment issued by the court against the ...

Formal statement by an auditor, after through examination and consideration, as to whether a real estate company's financial statements fairly present financial position and operating ...

The appraisal approach is used to estimate the value of an asset, based on various factors to reach the closest educated guess of the asset. While an appraisal approach does consider the ...

Judicially determined minimum selling price for auctioned property. For example, a judge rules that a foreclosed home may be sold for less than $200,000, ...

person designating an agent to act for him. Primary individual having full financial liability. Amount being risked in a real estate investment. Owner of a real estate business. ...

A reciprocal transfer of property from one entity to another. A market for securities of a real estate companies, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ...

Legal proceeding whereby a person's property is attached and used to pay an obligation. The employer may withhold part of the employee's salary to the court until the debt has been paid. ...

Popular Real Estate Questions