The five percent discount for inheritance tax paid within three months of death (§ 2142 of the Inheritance and Estate Tax Act, 72 P.S. § 9142) is often a significant benefit, and so care should be taken to make sure...
Category Archives: Tips
One of the most common capital transactions for estates is the sale of the decedent’s residence, and current tax law would seem to provide the greatest benefit to beneficiaries by claiming the expenses of that sale as part of that...
Most exclusions from the Pennsylvania inheritance tax can be found in section 2111 of the Inheritance and Estate Tax Act, Part III of Article XXI of the Tax Reform Code of 1971, 72 P.S. § 9112. However, there are other...
Some things to consider doing before ending an estate administration: Check with the Life Policy Locator Service provided by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to see if there are any policies insuring the decedent that were overlooked or not known...
The executor or administrator of a decedent’s estate is required to file the estate tax return for the estate (I.R.C. § 6018(a)) and is liable for the resulting tax (I.R.C. § 2002), and is required to file the decedent’s income...
IRC section 645 allows an election to treat a revocable trust as part of the estate of the settlor for income tax purposes, which allows revocable trusts to file income tax returns as estates following the death of the settlor...
On January 6, 2017, the Supreme Court adopted a new public access policy (“the Policy”) for records of appellate and trial courts in Pennsylvania, which became effective January 6, 2018. The Policy applies to filings in the Orphans’ Courts of...
This is an updated list of software that was originally published as an appendix to my book Wills, Trusts, and Technology, published by the American Bar Association and now in its second edition. In addition to updating names, publishers, and … Continue reading
[Updated 2/28/2024] The Pennsylvania personal income tax treats “income in respect of a decedent” (often referred to as “IRD”) in a way that is completely different from the federal income tax treatment of IRD, and practitioners dealing with estates of … Continue reading
The forms in use in a firm should be easy to edit, and it should be easy to copy and paste language from one document to another, so lawyers responsible for creating or maintaining will and trust (and other estate … Continue reading