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I posted a query to the American Bar Association's probate and trust law listserv, which has a couple of thousand members. I sent you a private message with the responses I received.

[quote="JW Nearly Retired"]...How hard can this be? It's just one form. ...quote] If it's a cash gift, outright and not in trust, it should be easy. In these cases, some of our clients do their own gift tax returns. If the gift was to a trust, it might be more difficult. In these cases, if...

For retired Federal or New York employees, New York City is tax-friendly. New York State and City do not tax Federal or New York employee pensions or Social Security, and have an exemption for some amount of other pension and IRA benefits. NYC its own income tax, but has a very low property tax. Tha...

Thanks for all the responses and education. I guess what I'm really trying to wrap my head around is if it's worth it to have a Bypass Trust with all the extra administrative work, higher taxes (at the trust level) and no step up in basis vs. no admin work, lower taxes at individual level, step up ...

There are several programs for preparing gift tax returns, but since the market (law firms and accounting firms) is much smaller than the market for retail income tax software programs, the price is higher. I think we pay a few hundred dollars a year for ours (and I think the cost is more for the fi...

Here is the list of the attorneys in the Charlotte Estate Planning Council: http://www.charlotteepc.org/members2.web?IndividualName=&BusinessName=&Discipline=281&Command=Search+Members. I don't know anyone there whom I could recommend. You might check the websites of several of them, and...

For what may happen when you say that the ticket was owned by an entity, see the Tax Court opinion in Tonda Lyn Dickerson, T.C. Memo 2012-60 (2012): http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/InOpHistoric/ ... CM.WPD.pdf .

Husband passed away late last year. Wife is mid 60's. Total estate is 6.5 million. 2M in IRA which is now in wife's name 2M Several Index Funds with Vanguard 2M Bank accounts 1.5M House This is approximately where the assets are. All non-IRA money is in a Family trust. The attorney has instructed t...

He might ask the lawyer who handled the transaction if he made a taxable gift of his income interest, followed by a gift by the remainder beneficiaries to him.

If the trust sold its assets in its final year, the capital gains will be taxable to the beneficiaries.

If the interest is deductible, and if you can use the deduction against ordinary income, there's a tax arbitrage to the extent you can invest for qualified dividends, long-term capital gain and tax-exempt income. Keeping the loan and the assets protects against the possibility that you'll need to ac...

A report by the President's Council of Economic Advisors cited (in a footnote on page 8) several studies that said that the difference between the present value of the annuity payments and the cost of the annuity is 10% to 15%: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/cea_retirement_report_0131...

The Roth contribution is not deductible for NJ income tax purposes. The NJ income tax is called a gross income tax, and NJ allows very few deductions. NJ doesn't allow a deduction for a contribution to a traditional IRA even where it would be deductible for Federal income tax purposes. Instead, you ...

Thanks. Jim Lange is a lawyer in Pittsburgh who hosts a call-in radio show. That was the second time I was a guest on his show. Here is a link to the archives: http://www.retiresecure.com/story.php?page=3 . I was also a guest on show #44. There doesn't appear to be a transcript for #44, but you can ...

The benefit of tax loss harvesting is less than some people think. You can only use losses against gains plus $3,000 per year of ordinary income. If you don't trade frequently, you won't have much in the way of gains. The benefit of deducting losses against $3,000 of ordinary income is relatively sm...

With a few exceptions, before the IRS can issue a refund for more than $1 million, it's reviewed by the staff of the Joint [Congressional]Committee on Taxation. The staff of the Joint Committee is nonpartisan (they support Senators and Representatives on tax matters), and is well-respected. As Seatt...

The trustees' duties include investments (including hiring someone to do the investments), deciding on discretionary distributions (where the Will agreement gives the trustees discretion, as would probably be the case here), and recordkeeping (including preparing or hiring someone to prepare the inc...

This is nowhere near as complicated as has been suggested. The original poster didn't say whether the trust is a grantor trust (which would usually but not always be the case if the trust was created during lifetime and the grantor is living), in which case the grantor would be taxable on the trust'...

Take a look at the HSH website: http://www.hsh.com/lshow.html . Click on your state in the section "Mortgage Rates by State" in the middle of the page. HSH doesn't get a commission if you use one of the lenders shown.

If one has enough other assets to live on and to pay the tax on the conversion, and if the lump sum can be rolled over into an IRA, there could be additional value in taking the lump sum, rolling it over into an IRA, and converting it to a Roth (perhaps spreading the conversion over a number of year...

Thanks for the advice everyone. I guess I'll just go with the Roth. I heard that it could be bad from a prominent financial advisor. Of course you heard that from a prominent financial advisor. I'm sure he'd rather sell you a whole life policy than have you either pay down the loan or invest in the...

... you may want to use your large taxable account to convert some of your Traditional IRA to a Roth, but you should only do this up to the top of the 15% total taxable income bracket; it isn't worth paying 30% tax now to avoid paying 25% tax later. There are other benefits to the Roth conversion. ...

Some of the posters have interchanged executors and trustees. The executor(s) have the relatively short-term job of collecting the assets, paying the debts and expenses, arranging to have the final income tax return filed, arranging to have the estate tax returns filed, dealing with the assets, and ...

As Dandy points out, the nature and extent of their other assets might be a factor in their decision. I didn't try to compare choices 2, 3 and 4. It's interesting to see that, at least from the one outside quote, the state offers a better deal on the annuity than the insurance company. I've seen tha...

There's a tradeoff. To the extent you accumulate the income and gains in the trust, you'll probably pay income tax at a higher rate. The additional income tax cost may be more than it would have been in past years given the changes in the tax law that took effect this year. However, to the extent yo...

... I never thought about using her final tax return to absorb the interest income from the savings bonds. She will indeed be in a low tax bracket since she died in March and had only taken one quarterly withdrawal from her IRA. So interest income up to her death can be claimed on her final return ...

Roth IRAs didn't exist until 1998, so even if this forum had been available 20 years ago, you couldn't have converted to a Roth 20 years ago. Until 2010 you couldn't convert if your income was over $100,000, so if you have more money in your IRA than you expect to need, I'm guessing you couldn't hav...

... I am the executor of my late aunt's estate, and I have discovered that she owned a significant amount of EE savings bonds issued between 1983 and 1999 (yes, I know that some of these bonds are no longer earning interest or soon will be). Further, the beneficiaries listed on the bonds are deceas...

Perhaps one of the auction houses: Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams, Doyle, Braswell.

They can't just live in the house and continue to pay the single parent's mortgage. They'll have to pay off the mortgage, either with money from the estate or with a new mortgage in the new owner's name. I think the mortgage is considered to be "in default" if ownership is transferred, ri...

I did check with my CPA, and she was of the opinion it was simple.... You might ask her to read the Huckaby http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2366198517406348895&q=Huckaby+v.+NY+State+Division+of+Tax+Appeals,+796+NYS2d+312+(2005)&hl=en&as_sdt=2,33 and Zelinsky http://scholar.g...

I did check with my CPA, and she was of the opinion it was simple.... You might ask her to read the Huckaby http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2366198517406348895&q=Huckaby+v.+NY+State+Division+of+Tax+Appeals,+796+NYS2d+312+(2005)&hl=en&as_sdt=2,33 and Zelinsky http://scholar.g...

I think there is an option to take the value at something like 6 months instead of the date of death. See what you can find about that - it may be more convenient. The executors can elect alternate valuation if it will reduce both the value of the gross estate and the amount of the estate tax. The ...

A better solution, which I also don't recommend, is converting to a Roth. That requires the same tax be paid, but the 167k that's left is in a tax free account and not subject to RMD. If the money is being saved for children then a Roth is more attractive, but it's your father who will take the hit...

I'm also not sure about converting to Roth and AMT. Converting will add income under both regular tax and AMT. It's not clear which marginal tax bracket is higher, regular or AMT. The Obamas were in the AMT exemption phaseout in 2012, so they were in the 35% Federal bracket, plus 5% Illinois, for a...

... My mom and dad currently live comfortably off their pensions that they will receive for the rest of their life and an emergency fund, on top of that they have roughly 250K in an IRA. With my dad approaching 70, my question is: 1. Should he take all the money out of his IRA, pay the taxes on it(...

I have good relationships with all but one of the banks and trust companies mentioned (in alphabetical order, Bank of America (U.S. Trust), BNY Mellon, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Northern Trust and Wells Fargo), and several others. (I don't know anyone in the trust department at Peoples United, which is ...

One can serve a corporation or LLC by serving the registered agent. New York is unusual in that it doesn't require a registered agent, though New York has a similar procedure. In New York, you can serve a corporation or LLC by serving the Secretary of State. The corporation or LLC has to give the Se...

Can anyone, especially anyone experienced with trusts and estate planning, suggest a few good books about trusts? The more explicit the instructions, the better. I'm not looking for a 'do it yourself book' but rather to be educated enough to engage with a trust attorney intelligently. The issues I'...

Thanks for the kind words, especially since I'm relatively new to this group.

Here is a link to the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... ttom_email

I didn't intend for anyone to leave this group because of me.

Obviously my memory is faulty and thank you both for your explanations. What sayeth you about principal invasions for the income beneficiary of a trust where there are capital gains in the trust? Bruce As I mentioned in my last post, for about the last 20 years I've included a provision in the Will...

You're the expert and it's been a few years since I've administered an estate, but I don't read it that way. The statute you cited says DNI does not include capital gains except if they are "paid, credited, or required to be distributed to any beneficiary during the taxable year..." It se...

Distributions carry out income, and in the final year, capital gains. Bruce - I don't believe this is correct in the case of an estate. Don't all distributions from an estate carry out capital gains? Bruce Generally not. Under Section 661(a), distributions carry out income to the extent of distribu...

Yes. Under Internal Revenue Code 853(a)(1), the fund has to have at least 50% of its assets invested in foreign securities.

Why is it "unfortunate" that the decedent didn't name a beneficiary for the account? Our clients generally provide for their children (in their Wills) to receive their shares in separate trusts rather than outright, to keep the inheritance out of the children's estates, and to protect aga...

You probate the Will, not the assets.

We've had local counsel probate Wills for us in Pennsylvania on several occasions. In each case, it was not difficult, expensive or burdensome. It would have been more work to have created revocable trusts.

Why is it "unfortunate" that the decedent didn't name a beneficiary for the account? Our clients generally provide for their children (in their Wills) to receive their shares in separate trusts rather than outright, to keep the inheritance out of the children's estates, and to protect agai...

bsteiner said " Own it as community property" Does not that mean, we have to be in 1 of the 9 community property states? We talked to a CPA last week and she does not think we can own it as community property, however, she referred us to a broker who is more knowledgeable answering questi...

You should check to be sure where these benefits would go if you were to disclaim.

If it goes to the estate, you won't be able to stretch the distributions out over the beneficiary's life expectancy.

You may want to discuss the choices with the attorney handling the estate.

You might discuss with the attorney you're using to handle the estate whether it would make sense for you to disclaim the life insurance, so that it won't be a taxable gift by you or included in your estate. Of course, you'll need to know whether there is a contingent beneficiary (and if so, whom), ...

1. Do you want to get the maximum earnings in 3 years but at the same time risk to lose 10, 20, even 50% of your principal? If the answer is yes, then go for the total stock funds (us, international, etc. Your choice) 2. If you want your principal to be intact in 3 years, you'll have to accept the ...