Oct 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Carlyn S. McCaffrey, partner Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, New York, and John C. McCaffrey, online

By: By Carlyn S. McCaffrey, partner Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, New York, and John C. McCaffrey, online

Divorcing couples may run the risk of incurring gift tax liability if their attorneys do not draft their settlement agreements with an eye on Internal Revenue Code Section 2702's draconian valuation rules.

Despite a recent plateau in divorce rates, the odds still are about even that an American marriage will end in divorce.¹ Attorneys who advise wealthy divorcing clients should be aware of the potential gift tax consequences of property settlement agreements that accompany divorces, particularly those that provide for temporary divisions of property. The need for awareness is unlikely to diminish because, regardless of the current efforts in Washington to repeal the estate tax, the gift tax is not in anyone's crosshairs.²

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