To obtain the marital deduction via the QTIP trust, the decedent's executor must elect to take it on the estate tax return. Once made by the executor, the election is irrevocable.

Though QTIPs and the marital deduction are often associated with each other, careful consideration must be given before electing this deduction. If elected, the assets in the QTIP trust will be includable in the surviving spouse's estate. This is so even though the surviving spouse had virtually no control over the QTIP property.

Why would a client make this election if doing so puts the QTIP property into the surviving spouse's estate? Again, it's about "control from the grave." Because this type of bequest does not require that the surviving spouse have the ultimate power of disposition over the trust assets, some estate owners prefer it to the outright bequest.

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