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Courses/Business, Commercial & Financial Law/Tax, Bankruptcy & Consumer Law

Qualified Domestic Trusts (QDOT): Tax Strategy Essentials

Master the complexities of QDOTs to protect assets and defer estate taxes for non-citizen spouses.

Created byLeslie Bonner
All LevelsUpdated Aug 22, 2026
Qualified Domestic Trusts (QDOT): Tax Strategy Essentials

What You'll Learn

check_circleIdentify the legal requirements and structural components of a Qualified Domestic Trust.
check_circleAnalyze the tax treatment of QDOT distributions and the impact of the hardship exemption.
check_circleEvaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using a QDOT for estate tax deferral.
check_circleApply IRS filing requirements, including Form 706-QDT, to ensure regulatory compliance.
check_circleDetermine the impact of citizenship status changes on QDOT necessity and tax liability.

About This Course

There are 2 components in the course, Qualified Domestic Trust (QDOT) & Its Taxation and QDOT Case Study & Applied Practice Addendum. In the first component I explain qualified domestic trusts and their taxation requirements. I discuss who serves as grantor and beneficiary in these arrangements. I demonstrate tax treatment differences through comparative case scenarios showing immediate versus deferred taxation. The second component is an expanded scenario-based breakdown applying the core objectives to complex, real-world fact patterns. I explain how qualified domestic trusts and irrevocable life insurance trusts work together in mixed citizenship estate planning. I demonstrate through case studies how ILITs remove life insurance from taxable estates while QDOTs protect marital deductions for non-citizen spouses. I cover the Crummey powers for tax-free premium funding, and show how these separate trusts solve different problems without conflicting.

Your Instructor

Leslie Bonner
Leslie Bonner

"When not knowing, we open our minds, get informed & learn."

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Leslie Bonner, Enrolled Agent, MLS, has 39 years of experience in tax law in the areas of individuals, corporations (both C-Corp & S-Corp), partnerships & LLCs, non-profit and tax-exempt entities, and employment tax law. Leslie is skilled in Tax Consulting, Tax Preparation, Employment Tax, Sales Tax, Internal Audit and Accounting. Leslie is a Tax Advisor and Enrolled Agent (EA) with professional experience in helping clients resolve complex tax issues - especially as these issues relate to rental property and passive loss rules, employment taxes, trust, estate and gift taxes, real property & taxation, alien individuals and other foreign persons who need to meet their tax compliance and filing responsibilities, including tax planning, tax preparation, tax audits and representation, and appeals representation before the Internal Revenue Service. Leslie holds a Master in Legal Studies from Washington University at St. Louis School of Law, and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Woodbury University. Leslie is an Enrolled Agent who is admitted to practice before the Internal Revenue Service, as well as a Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA), authorized to act on behalf of alien individuals and other foreign persons with respect to those person who need to obtain an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) or an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service. Leslie frequently speaks and holds events and webinars on multiple topics including Small Business Workshop, Foreign Persons & Their Tax Responsibilities, Foreign Banks and Financial Account and Tax Reporting Requirements, Real Property & Its Taxation, Estate Tax Planning & Taxation, Worker Classification & Tax Filing Requirements, and Personal Income Tax, Reasonable Compensation & Risk Mitigation, as well as various other tax-related topics.

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We are a registered provider with 327+ associations and regulatory bodies worldwide. We operate across 29 global markets including Canada, the US, Australia, and the UK. Every course page clearly displays its specific accreditations. Upon completion, you receive a professional certificate that can be validated online. Our certificates include all necessary accreditation details, credit hours, and completion dates, and are formatted specifically to meet the submission requirements of most global regulatory bodies.

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