I completely agree. In recent years, with the exemption amount increasing, fewer and fewer clients have been needing the mandatory A/B split. The vast majority of our estate plans have been disclaimer or clayton election type plans.

However, even when the mandatory split is not needed for tax reasons, many clients have opted for a mandatory split to provide for asset protection for the surviving spouse or where the deceased spouse wants to control their half of the estate from below ground to ensure their assets get to their chosen loved ones — this is common in estates where spouses have children from prior marriages.

-Gerald Kane