"Harlan Lunsford" <hlunsfordns[at]bellsouth.net> wrote:
- quote -

According to the 2002 "1040 Forms and Instructions" booklet
(Page 60), "A personal representative can be an executor,
administrator, or ANYONE WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE DECEASED
TAXPAYER'S PROPERTY." (My emphasis, not the IRS's.)

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Charlie48K <Chas_K[at]excite.com> wrote:
- quote -

.....deletia...

Let me concur with that last bit of advice. My secretive,
curmudgeonly father died last year without having filed for
several years. The tax situation was not complicated (except
for the failure to file) but it took me months to
reconstruct his finances, file for the missing and final
years, and straighten things out with the IRS. Turns out
they were satisfied with just the back taxes, waiving
penalties and interest.

I'm no tax professional, but I think you might save yourself
some trouble if you take care of any outstanding tax issues
your father had.

--
Al B. Wesolowsky o Unlike J. W. Hardin, my foolish moves
abw[at]bu.edu o have been many.
Boston University o ---Michael Murphey

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Charlie48K wrote:

(snipped)
- quote -

Interesting opinion there about his obligation. In the
absence of an executor or administrator appointed for any
estate, the IRS would look next to the personal
representative (their term) as reponsbile for filing the
decedent's final return.

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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chevycam97[at]aol.com (Dave) wrote:

- quote -

The small estate affadavit was in-lieu of probate court. The
money you received was probably the balance of the estate.
There are no taxes due from you because of the transfer, but
there is a possibility that your father's last tax return
might show a balance of taxes due. If so, you have an
obligation to pay that amount out of the money you received.

So, although you have no obligation to file his final
return. It would be a good idea to do so. Check with your
family attorney to see if he's already arranged it. If not,
I would recommend you do so.

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Dave wrote:

- quote -

Although it's a small estate, you probably need a
professional.

In addition to his final income tax return, you need to
worry about an estate tax return if (and only if) he'd given
the estate plus reportable gifts exceeds $1,000,000, and you
need to file an income tax return for the estate. In order
to do THAT, you need to have applied for a tax ID number for
the estate. It's likely no tax would be due, but....

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"Dave" <chevycam97[at]aol.com> wrote:

- quote -

You will have to file a return, but get some pro advice since
there appears to be other issues just below the surface and
you want to do this once and move on with your life.

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My father passed away 8 weeks ago and there was no will. My
mother and him have been divorced and out of the picture
since 1987 and I am the only son. Per the family lawyer, a
small estates affadavit (assets under 50,000) was drawn up
so I could have access to his account to pay for the
funeral. The affadavit also put me in charge of selling his
mobile home and his car, neither has any substantial
financial value. His bank paid for the funeral on the spot
but didnt release the rest of the funds to me for 5-6 weeks.
This was in case others claimed funds, etc. I got the check
a few weeks ago for around 12,000. I have a few questions
surrouning the funds though. Will I have to file this on my
taxes as income next year. Someone told me I have to file my
dads taxes in 2004, and if he owed then I'd have to pay just
what(if)he owed and then the 12,000 would not be taxed since
he maintained that balance for quite some time. Another
person we know said there is no tax on 12,000, its below a
certain minimum the IRS looks at. Its all pretty confusing
and we really need some sound advice. My dad was 71 years
old and was on Social Security, but also worked part time.
He had 2 credit cards which didnt want anything more than
his death certificates. All we're really trying to do now is
figure out what kind of tax situation this has created.
Thank you for reading and advice.

Dave

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