Page 72 - BusinessWest April 27, 2026

A Matter of Trusts
How to Reduce Massachusetts Estate Taxes for Married Couples
BY GINA M. BARRY, ESQ.
In Massachusetts, if you pass away owning assets worth more
than $2 million, your estate will likely owe Massachusetts estate
tax. Fortunately, given a relatively recent change in the law, Mas-
sachusetts estate tax would be paid only on the amount over $2
million, as opposed to on the entire estate.
Many people think that their estate is not valued at more than
$2 million; however, it is very easy to reach this level of value
when you consider that every asset you own is valued for estate
tax purposes. The focus of this article is on how married couples
can use trusts to minimize, or possibly eliminate, the Massachu-
setts estate tax that would be due without this planning.
Under Massachusetts law, for deaths in 2026, there is no
estate tax due so long as the decedent’s estate is not valued at
over $2 million. Moreover, there is no estate tax due when all
assets are left to a surviving spouse, as there is an unlimited mar-
ital deduction that applies regardless of how much money one
spouse leaves to another.
The potential trap is that, upon the second death, when the
surviving spouse is holding the entire estate, their estate will
likely be taxed at a larger percentage. This is because the $2 mil-
lion Massachusetts estate tax exemption is not portable between
spouses. When the second of the two spouses dies, their exemp-
tion is still only $2 million.
A common estate planning technique to minimize, or possi-
bly eliminate, Massachusetts estate tax is creating credit shelter
trusts, which would allow both spouses to pass up to $2 million
without paying estate tax.
“Many people think that their estate is
not valued at more than $2 million; how-
ever, it is very easy to reach this level of
value when you consider that every asset
you own is valued for estate tax
purposes.”
As assets left outright to the surviving spouse would qualify for
the marital deduction instead of using the estate tax exemption, it
is necessary to use a system of trusts to cordon off the $2 million
exempt from tax in Massachusetts from the surviving spouse’s
direct and unfettered access.
Thus, the surviving spouse is forgoing control of the assets
held in their deceased spouse’s trust to realize the goal of pay-
ing less or no estate tax when both spouses have passed away.
Although the surviving spouse does not have unfettered access
to the trust funds, they would have access according to the trust’s
rules.
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