13.2 Qualified Disclaimers

• Library: A Lawyer's Guide to Estate Planning: Fundamentals for the Legal Practitioner (ABA) (2018 Ed.)

13.2 Qualified Disclaimers

An individual may refuse to accept a bequest, devise, or other property interest passing to him or her from the decedent. This refusal is often termed a renunciation in estate and property law, but it is termed a disclaimer in federal estate tax law. If the disclaimer meets both the state law requirements of the decedent's place of domicile and the federal tax law requirements, it is termed a qualified disclaimer and is effective for federal estate, gift, income, and generation-skipping tax purposes.

Assuming the disclaimer meets state law requirements, it must also meet the following requirements to be qualified for federal tax purposes:¹

1. It must be an irrevocable and unqualified refusal to accept an interest in the property.
2. The refusal must be in writing.
3. The writing must be received by the transferor of the interest, his or her legal representative, or the holder of the legal title to the property to which the interest relates not later than the date that is nine months after the later of (a) the day on which the transfer creating the interest in such person is made or (b) the day on which such person reaches age 21.
4. The disclaimant must not have accepted the interest or any of its benefits.
5. As a result of such person's refusal, and without any direction from the dis-claimant, the interest must pass to either (a) the decedent's spouse or (b) to a person other than the

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