How to Settle Your Estate and Inheritance

$50 Polo Ralph Lauren Gift Card absolutely free!

Do you prefer Ford or Chevy? Tell us, and we'll give you $10!

Specialty Pages

A Dazed and Confused Tribute

A Guide to Affiliate Programs

Multiple Streams of Income

Damox Home

Legal Advice Home

An estate must be settled, whether there is an existing will or not. It is important to write a will and appoint an executor to your estate, no matter what your age or physical status. As we all learned from a recent court case that drew national attention, it is also important to put in writing your final wishes, such as whether you wish to be kept on life support and whether or not you would like to be an organ donor.

With that message aside, chances are you probably arrived at this page because a loved one has passed away and now you are settling the estate and/or inheritance. If you are lucky enough to have a will from this loved one the process will be much easier for everyone, but even in the absense of a will the estate will still need to be settled. It is important that you and your family members get every dollar possible from the estate. A drawn-out legal fight could drain much of your gains from an inheritance, as many people have unfortunately learned in the past.

If the executor of an estate was not appointed by the deceased, or you feel the executor that was appointed is unable to perform the duties of an executor, your best option will usually be to hire a probate attorney, who will likely petition the court to appoint an unbiased third-party executor. Your probate attorney will also be able to advise you on other options.

It is very important to keep accurate financial records following the death of a loved one. I am not an accountant, but I would recommend saving anything that you think might be relevant when filing your taxes. A CPA will be able to advise you on the best way of handling an inheritance. It might be possible to place some of the money in certain types of bonds that will allow you to report the income across several years, which will allow you to report more inheritance income in years where you make less money. This could help you avoid reaching a hire tax bracket and paying a hire percentage income tax under the current tax system. Like I said, talk to a CPA. It will be well worth your money.

Choose your legal situation from the following list: