Federal Tax Consequences of Antenuptial Contracts

This comment will examine the federal gift, estate, and income tax consequences of antenuptial contracts. Each of these taxes will be discussed separately. Antenuptial contracts which provide for the transfer of property arise more frequently in common law property states, where spouses have inchoate rights in one another\u27s property, than in community property states, where the spouses share the community property equally. In the antenuptial contract setting, federal taxes are imposed upon the transfer of property; when an antenuptial contract provides for a transfer of property, there are no differences in the federal tax consequences between common law property and community property systems. There are, however, some provisions which are unique to community property jurisdictions, and the comment concludes with a brief discussion of the tax consequences of agreements altering community property rights