For purposes of the federal transfer tax, you can — during your lifetime,
or at death — give an unlimited amount of wealth to your spouse
tax-free. This can be a great advantage, but may not be the panacea that it is
often described as. The reason: although you can transfer any amount that you
want to your spouse, if your spouse survives you (and does not remarry), there
will not be a marital deduction available to lessen the estate tax liability at
his or her later death. For this reason, it's often a good idea not to
give everything to the spouse outright, but to use a credit
shelter bequest.