The Webcalculators website for online estate, trust, tax, and financial calculators now includes a projection of the value of a “sole use trust” for the benefit of a surviving spouse with and without the election to pre-pay the inheritance tax on the remainder.

What the projection shows is that electing to pre-pay the inheritance tax on the remainder should result in a greater after-tax value for the remainder (assuming that the remainder remains subject to inheritance tax at the death of the surviving spouse) unless it is projected that principal might be paid or distributed for the support of the surviving spouse, at which point the benefit of the prepayment election becomes very uncertain.

For an article addressing the pros and cons of the election, and drafting to allow disclaimers of interests that would prevent the treatment of a trust as a sole use trust, see “‘Sole Use Trusts’ and Disclaimers.”

The “overview” from the calculation, which also explains the pros and cons of the election, is as follows: