Estate and gift tax
The returns an executor files, and the one a surviving spouse should
Few estates owe federal estate tax, but many should still file the return. When a husband or wife dies, Form 706 is how the survivor keeps the unused part of the exemption, the portability election, and it has to be made on a timely return.
Eugenia prepares estate and gift tax returns, answers the IRS's questions about them, and works beside the family's estate planning lawyer and accountant rather than replacing them. She doesn't draft wills or trusts; she will tell you who does.
What she handles
Federal estate tax returns, Form 706
Gift tax returns, Form 709
The estate's final income tax returns
For the executor
Questions worth asking in the first months
Is a return due at all?
It turns on the size of the estate, the gifts made in life, and whether a spouse survives. She works it out from the inventory.
When is it due?
Nine months from the date of death, with a six-month extension to file available if it is asked for in time.
Am I personally on the hook?
An executor who pays heirs before the estate's taxes can be asked to pay them personally. She will tell you when it is safe to distribute.
Talk it over before the nine months are up
Bring the death certificate, the will or trust, and whatever inventory you have so far.