Estate and Trust Administration For Dummies - Tapa blanda

Administering an estate or a trust is a big responsibility. This practical, authoritative guide contains advice for handling estates and trusts large or small, offering solid advice on reading and interpreting documents, and helping anyone involved in an estate or trust avoid paying too much, or too little, tax and other administrative expenses. It also shows you how to take care of a loved one's estate in the event he or she never created a will or other estate planning documents.

• Understand and follow the rules — administer estates and trusts to ensure a smooth transfer of property and orderly management of fiduciary affairs

• Assemble a team — choose the legal and financial experts, and know when to use them

• Navigate the probate process — move efficiently through each step, whether your decedent had many assets or just a few

• Identify and liquidate estate assets — whether owned outright, jointly, or in a trust

• Settle debts and pay bequests — from paying funeral expenses and administration costs to segregating and distributing named property

• Operate a revocable or irrevocable trust — understand a trustee's duties, responsibilities, and limitations

• Make sound trust investment decisions — diversify holdings and meet beneficiary needs

• Comply with income and estate tax regulations — from the decedent's final Form 1040, through the estate's Form 706, and the estate and trust's Form 1041

Open the book and find:

• An overview of executors' and trustees' duties

• Reviews of the probate process and estate taxes

• Tips on finding and managing professional help

• Advice on notifying insurers of a death

• Steps for closing an estate

• Rules for establishing and funding a trust

• Essentials on estate and trust record keeping

• Fundamentals of preparing federal estate tax and estate and trust income tax returns