How to Locate a Decedent's Assets through the Mail
A decedent’s mail can be an important resource for an estate administrator who is in the process of marshalling the decedent’s assets. As you read the decedent’s bills, statements, and correspondence, [more…]
How to Research a Potential Estate Attorney’s Credentials
When choosing an attorney to assist with your estate or trust, you should research credentials and conduct interviews. Check the Web site of the firm at which the estate lawyer is employed. Also check [more…]
How to Avoid Double-Dipping Deductions for a Decedent, Estate, or Trust
When preparing a decedent’s final income tax Form 1040, or an estate or trust’s Form 1041, it is important to be aware of any deductions that may already have been taken on the estate tax Form 706. Many [more…]
How to Calculate Interest and Dividends for a Decedent, Estate, or Trust
When filing Form 1040 or Form 1041, your first task is to determine how much income the taxpayer (whether trust, estate or decedent) earned. Two of the main types of income you’ll have to deal with are [more…]
How to Amend Estate Form 706 and Apply for Extensions
When filing Form 706, inaccuracies and missed deadlines are not, necessarily, the end of the world. If you made a mistake or unintentionally excluded some assets when you filed Form 706, you can amend [more…]
How to Pay the Tax for Estate Form 706
The guidelines for paying the federal estate tax are simple. Make sure payments made to the IRS include the decedent’s name and Social Security Number. You can pay with a credit or debit card but may incur [more…]
Where and How to File Estate Form 706
The administrator of an estate needs to know the basic rules for how and where to file Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return [more…]
How to List a Decedent's Household Property
The executor of an estate is responsible for the decedent’s household items and personal property. Prepare a detailed inventory of all the personal and household items [more…]
How to Determine If an Estate Must File Form 706
Determining whether or not you need to file Form 706 for an estate depends on the size of the gross estate, or the total value of everything the decedent owned as of date of death, and the year in which [more…]
How to Determine Final Income Distributions for Trust Beneficiaries
When terminating a trust, you must be certain that all required income distributions have, in fact, been made to the income beneficiary before you can distribute the remaining trust principal to the person [more…]
How to Organize a Trust’s File System
Staying organized is important when you’re a trustee in an estate. The grantor has relied on you to handle the trust’s assets. When you’re organized, you know where the trust instrument and other important [more…]
How to Pay a Trust's Expenses
In addition to making payments to the beneficiaries, as trustee, you’re also responsible for paying the expenses you incur in administering the trust. The primary expenses include trustee’s fees, investment [more…]
How to List a Decedent's Large Assets
When marshalling — locating and listing — a decedent’s assets, an estate administrator might begin with the largest assets: real estate and vehicles. Large assets will often be easy to find, but it is [more…]
Seek Advice for Complex Schedules on Estate Form 706
Some of the schedules on the United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return (Form 706) involve complex areas of tax law. Schedules G, H, I, P, Q, R, and U are full of technicalities [more…]
How to Complete Schedule O for Estate Form 706
Use Schedule O to claim a charitable deduction when filing federal estate tax returns (Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return [more…]
How to Complete Schedule M for Estate Form 706
Use Schedule M: Bequests, etc. to surviving spouse, when filing the federal estate tax return (Form 706), to report property passed to the decedent’s surviving spouse. Property passed to the spouse as [more…]
Estate Tax Installments and Postponements: Part 3 of Form 706
An estate’s administrator can use Part 3 of Form 706 to make elections concerning the payment of federal estate taxes. When electing to pay the tax in installments, you need to verify that the estate qualifies [more…]
How to Obtain a Liability Release for Estate Form 706
Whether you file the decedent’s Form 706 as executor or trustee, you always want to obtain a release from personal liability under code section 2204. This ensures that you will not be liable for any additional [more…]
When Must You File Estate Form 706?
The executor, administrator, or personal representative of the decedent’s estate is responsible for filing Form 706 if the gross estate is larger than the applicable exclusion amount for the year in question [more…]
How to List and Value a Decedent’s Small Businesses
If a decedent owned a small business, in full or in part, the estate’s executor needs to value that small business and decide whether to continue the business or sell it. Use the decedent’s tax return [more…]
Write a New Property Sale Agreement for an Estate
If you are administering an estate in which the decedent was in the middle of a property transfer at the time of death, cancel the old purchase and sale agreement. Then write a new agreement in which the [more…]
What Is the Federal Estate Tax?
The federal estate tax applies to large estates. The year of the decedent’s death determines the qualifying value of the estate. If you are administering an estates that qualifies, you must complete Form [more…]
How to Complete Schedule K and L for Estate Form 706
When filing Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, use Schedule Kto deduct debts that the decedent owed at death and obligations, such as mortgages or liens, which [more…]
Alternate and Special Valuation: Part 3 of Estate Form 706
In Part 3 of Form 706, the estate administrator can choose to make any of four tax elections depending on if these elections apply to the decedent and benefit the estate. The first two elections, [more…]
Roll an Estate’s Pension Plan or IRA to the Heirs
If you are administering an estate with a pension plan or IRA, roll the account to the estate heirs. Do not take a lump sum distribution on the pension plan or IRA for the estate, because the estate will [more…]
