The division of incentive stock options in a divorce.

• Position: News & Trends

The IRS recently released Private Letter Ruling 200519011 (5/13/05) addressing the division of incentive stock options (ISO) in a divorce. The specific case involved a trust arrangement by which the employee spouse (ES) holds the non-employee spouse's (NES) options and conducts transactions only at the NES's direction.

Important provisions of this ruling include:

* The ES's designation of the NES as the beneficiary of the ISOs will not disqualify them under IRC Sec. 422(b)(5).

* The NES will recognize AMT resulting from the exercise of their ISOs and receives the resulting credit.

* Neither the designation of the NES as the beneficiary of the ISOs nor the transfer of stock received from an exercise will be considered a taxable event.

* The transfer of the stock to the NES will not be considered a disposition of stock under IRC Sec. 424(c).

* The NES...