Estate Administration Process - The Tax Practitioner's Guide

Author: Arthur Joseph Werner

Estate and trust administration is a growing part of a CPA's practice. The CPA should understand the process and implications of estate and trust administration.

This course focuses on the CPA's role as a key member of the administration team.

Publication Date: December 2015

Designed For
CPAs, EAs, attorneys, financial planners, insurance agents, and bankers

Topics Covered

• Estate settlement issues
• Collection and accounting of assets
• Determining the legitimacy of debts and creditors
• Payment of creditors
• Distribution issues
• Probate issues
• Will contests
• Inventory of assets
• Fiduciary duties
• Rights of creditors, third parties, and beneficiaries
• Federal estate tax issues
• State death tax issues
• Ancillary estate administration issues
• Fiduciary accounting issues
• Special issues regarding trusts

Learning Objectives

• Define the CPA's role in estate administration
• Identify course of action when a person dies without a will
• Recognize the person appointed by the course system to be responsible for the administration of an estate
• Define a bequest and beneficiary bequest
• Identify proper statements regarding clauses on wills
• Recognize administration duties of an estate
• Differentiate statements regarding personal and estate liabilities
• Identify which individuals are responsible for drafting a last will and testament and filing the document to the probate court
• Identify the legal paperwork the court provides an Executor of an estate which allows him to perform the estate's administration duties
• Evaluate the requests an executor can proceed with
• Recognize the definition of the clause in a will that directs the inheritance benefits of an estate that remain after all taxes, bequests, debts, claims, and expenses are paid
• Differentiate the legal tasks best left for the attorney of the estate to complete
• Identify the functions that a tax practitioner might undertake
• Recognize the federal form which names the personal representative of an estate or trust and defines the period of time the individual has the liability
• Define the expenses that is not a deductible administration cost
• Illustrate a checklist of final steps involved in an estate administration

Level
Basic

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Taxes (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
None

Advance Preparation
None