As reported by Forbes in States Race To Clean Up Congress’ Estate Tax Mess, several states – including Florida – aren’t waiting around for Congress to get its act together on the estate tax front.
…While Congress dilly dallies, the
Probate Litigators Need to Know about the New IRS Regulations under Section 2053 Governing Estate Tax Deductions for Administration Expenses and Claims Against Estates
At a top current rate of 45%, the federal estate tax automatically makes the IRS the single largest creditor of most large estates. If the estate tax is looming in the background it’s imperative that every decision made by …
Minimizing a Personal Representative’s Personal Liability to Pay Taxes
I’ve recently been lecturing on tax issues in play in probate and trust litigation [click here]. After giving this lecture a couple of times I noticed a pattern: the single tax question most probate lawyers were concerned with …
4th DCA: When does a surviving spouse’s “elective share” take an estate-tax hit?
Boulis v. Blackburn, — So.3d —-, 2009 WL 2382358 (Fla. 4th DCA Aug 05, 2009)
The decedent at the heart of this probate battle, Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis, was a Greek immigrant and self-made millionaire who had started as …
M.D.Fla.: Limitations periods applicable to estate creditors don’t apply to the IRS
U.S. v. Guyton, Slip Copy, 2009 WL 1308431 (M.D.Fla. May 08, 2009)
The IRS is the "über" creditor of any probate estate. Why? Two reasons. First, the personal representative (PR) is personally liable for any of the decedent’s …
Cautionary Tale: Attorney Goes to Jail for Filing False Estate Tax Return
Estate tax returns are complicated and technically demanding for even the most experienced attorney or CPA. Add to that mix the pressure sometimes applied by family members who are flabbergasted by the amount of tax they have to pay.
This …