No, generally the marital deduction applies to every surviving spouse and was legislated to protect the surviving spouse from Estate Taxes; however, if the surviving spouse is not a US citizen, then there is no marital deduction unless a Qualified Domestic Trust has been created. In other words, the surviving spouse must be an American citizen or the couple must have created a Qualified Domestic (QDOT) Trust to benefit from the Unlimited Marital Deduction. Furthermore, the Marital Deduction is limited to fifty (50%) percent if the estate documents were prepared before 1982.