In an increasingly interconnected world, mixed-status households—families where spouses hold different citizenship or residency statuses—are more common than ever. Whether one spouse is a U.S. citizen while the other holds a Green Card, a temporary work visa (like an H-1B, L-1, or E-2), or lives abroad as a non-resident foreign national, this dynamic introduces unique legal nuances. While civil law treats mixed-status couples like any other married unit, U.S. federal tax law treats them dramatically differently. Most married couples assume they can leave their entire estate to each other tax-free. When the surviving spouse is a non-U.S. citizen, that assumption can trigger a costly, unexpected tax bill. The Non-Citizen Spouse Disadvantage: No Unlimited Marital Deduction Under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) §2056(a), transfers of wealth between U.S. citizen spouses are completely exempt from estate and gift taxes. A citizen can leave an unlimited amount of wealth to a U.S. citizen sp...