Why Green Card Holders Need an Estate Plan Before They Become US Citizens

Arzoo Connor • August 1, 2026

Green card holders face different estate tax rules than US citizens, and the gap between what a citizen's family pays and what a noncitizen's family pays can be significant.

A planning tool called a Qualified Domestic Trust, or QDOT, is specifically designed to address this situation, but it has to be in place before it is needed. Once someone dies, the window to plan is closed.

I practice both immigration law and estate planning in Texas, which means I regularly see the intersection of these two subjects in ways that most attorneys who practice only one of them do not. This post is for green card holders who have not thought about estate planning yet and for US citizens who have a green card holder spouse.

The estate tax difference between citizens and green card holders

The United States imposes an estate tax on the transfer of assets at death above a certain exemption amount. For US citizens, the federal estate tax exemption in 2026 is substantial, meaning most estates below a very high threshold pass without federal estate tax. When a US citizen dies and leaves assets to a US citizen spouse, the unlimited marital deduction applies, meaning those assets can pass to the surviving citizen spouse entirely free of estate tax regardless of amount.

When a US citizen dies and leaves assets to a surviving spouse who is not a US citizen, even a lawful permanent resident with a green card, the unlimited marital deduction does not automatically apply in the same way. The IRS treats a noncitizen spouse differently because there is a concern that the assets could leave the US tax system if the surviving spouse later moves to another country. The result is that an estate that would have passed tax-free to a citizen spouse may face estate tax when it passes to a green card holder spouse.

What a Qualified Domestic Trust is and why it matters

A Qualified Domestic Trust, or QDOT, is an estate planning structure that allows assets to pass to a noncitizen surviving spouse while deferring the estate tax that would otherwise apply. The QDOT holds the assets and pays income to the surviving spouse during their lifetime. The estate tax is deferred until assets are distributed from the trust or until the surviving spouse dies. If the surviving spouse later becomes a US citizen, the QDOT can be dissolved and the deferred tax goes away.

The QDOT has to be established in the estate plan before death. It cannot be created retroactively after someone dies. A will that is drafted without this consideration and leaves everything outright to a noncitizen spouse does not create a QDOT. The surviving spouse would then face the estate tax without the benefit of the deferral structure.

Why the window between green card and citizenship is specifically important

Many green card holders plan to naturalize eventually. Some are in the process. Some are waiting until they meet the time requirements. During that period, they are still noncitizens for estate tax purposes, and if their US citizen spouse dies without proper planning in place, the estate tax consequences apply.

The reason I emphasize this specifically for the period before naturalization is that people in this situation often assume their immigration status will resolve before they need to think about estate planning. The assumption is that they will become citizens, the issue will go away, and they can plan at that point. But naturalization takes time, the timeline is not always predictable, and people die at all ages. Planning should happen now, not after a milestone that has not yet occurred.

This is not just about very large estates

People often assume estate tax planning is only relevant for the very wealthy. For couples where one spouse is a US citizen and one is a green card holder, this planning matters at asset levels that many people do not think of as especially large. If you and your spouse own a home in the DFW area, have retirement accounts, have life insurance, and have savings, the combined value of those assets can be meaningful and the tax consequences of dying without proper planning can affect your family in concrete ways.

Other estate planning considerations specific to green card holders

Beyond the estate tax question, green card holders and their families often have other planning needs that a standard estate planning framework does not fully address. If you have property or family members in another country, your plan needs to address how those assets are handled and what happens if a beneficiary cannot easily receive assets in the United States. If your children are at different stages of the naturalization process, your plan needs to account for their different statuses. If you have a mixed-status family, the planning considerations multiply.

These are exactly the situations where having an attorney who understands both immigration law and estate planning is useful. The documents that a standard estate planning attorney drafts may not account for the immigration dimensions of your family's situation.

If you are a green card holder in Texas, or if you have a green card holder spouse, a consultation will tell you exactly what your situation calls for and what it costs to put it in place. Call us.

Attorney Arzoo Connor

ARC Legal Services | Fort Worth, TX | Hablamos Español

469-200-0158 | www.arclawoffice.com

This post is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Immigration law is complex and every case is different. Please consult a qualified attorney about your individual situation.

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Can I Get a Green Card If I Entered the United States Without Inspection?

By Arzoo Connor • October 30, 2026

Whether you can get a green card after entering the United States without inspection depends on several factors — whether you have a qualifying family member, how long you have been here, whether you have any prior removal orders, and your specific immigration history. There is no single yes or no answer. But there are paths that exist for some people in this situation, and there are specific reasons why others cannot use them, and understanding which category you are in is the most important thing you can do right now. This is the question I hear most in my office in Fort Worth. People who have been here for ten, fifteen, twenty years. People who have US citizen children, US citizen spouses. People who built lives here and want to know whether there is a legal path forward. Here is the honest answer. What 'entered without inspection' means and why it matters Entering without inspection means crossing into the United States without going through an official port of entry or without being admitted by an immigration officer. No visa. No stamp. Just crossing. This matters for green card purposes because the standard path to a green card — called adjustment of status — generally requires that you were inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States. If you entered without inspection, you were not admitted. That creates a barrier to adjusting status inside the country that people who entered with a visa and overstayed do not face in the same way. When a path to a green card may exist despite entering without inspection The most common situation where a path exists is through a provision called 245(i). This is a law that allows certain people who entered without inspection — or who have other technical bars to adjustment of status — to still apply for a green card inside the United States, as long as they had a family petition or labor certification filed on their behalf before April 30, 2001, and they pay a penalty fee. If you have a family member who filed for you before that date, this may apply to you. The date cutoff is firm and there is no exception to it. Another situation is parole in place for military families. If you are an immediate family member — spouse, child, or parent — of someone on active duty in the US military or a veteran, you may be eligible for parole in place, which gives you a form of admission that then allows you to apply for adjustment of status. This is a specific and limited exception, but it is a real one. There is also consular processing — leaving the United States and applying for an immigrant visa at a US consulate abroad. This is sometimes an option, but it requires understanding the unlawful presence bars before you go. If you have been in the United States unlawfully for more than 180 days and you leave, you trigger a bar on returning. More than one year unlawfully, and it is a ten-year bar. Whether a waiver of that bar is available depends on your qualifying relatives and the hardship your absence would cause them. When there is no direct path currently available If you entered without inspection, you do not have 245(i) eligibility, you do not have a military family connection, and your only option would require leaving the country and triggering an unlawful presence bar — and you do not have qualifying relatives who could support a hardship waiver — then there may not be a straightforward path to a green card right now. That is a hard answer to hear and I give it plainly because the alternative — spending money on an application that does not succeed, or making decisions about leaving the country without understanding the consequences — is worse. Some people in this situation have other options: cancellation of removal if they end up in immigration court, U visa if they have been a victim of a qualifying crime, VAWA if they have been abused by a US citizen or LPR spouse or parent. Those are separate conversations worth having. Why you need an attorney to assess your specific situation The analysis of whether a path exists depends on facts that are specific to your case. When exactly you entered. Whether you have had any prior immigration court proceedings. Whether anyone has ever filed any petition for you. Whether you have any criminal history. Whether you have qualifying family members and what their status is. I have sat across from people who came in and were certain they had no options and found a path they did not know existed. I have also sat across from people who were certain they qualified for something and had to tell them the specific facts of their situation meant they did not. There is no substitute for having someone look at your actual file. A consultation will tell you honestly where you stand and what, if anything, can be done. Call us. Attorney Arzoo Connor ARC Legal Services | Fort Worth, TX | Hablamos Español 469-200-0158 | arclawoffice.com This post is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Every immigration case is different. Please consult a qualified attorney about your individual situation.