Key Issues for Decedent’s Estates: Final 1040 and Post-Mortem Elections and Decisions FLEXCAST
Available Until
Your Desk
2.0 Credits
Member Price $98.00
Non-Member Price $113.00
Overview
Settling a decedent’s tax matters is rarely about just filing the final 1040. This webcast walks through what belongs on the decedent’s final return (income and deductions through date of death), who must sign and file, joint vs. separate return issues, and the common traps that show up when payors keep reporting under the decedent’s SSN. You’ll also cover key day-of-death rules for S corporation shareholders, partners/LLC members, trusts, retirement distributions, installment sales, principal residence sales, EE bonds, medical deductions, and the harsh reality that many losses/credits simply expire at death.
From there, the course shifts to the post-mortem elections and decisions that can materially change outcomes on the fiduciary income tax return and beyond-fiscal year selection, the Section 645 qualified revocable trust election, where to deduct administration expenses, the 65-day election, estimated tax allocation elections, charitable timing options, and the Section 643(e) gain-recognition election on in-kind distributions. You’ll also review major estate tax planning elections and pressure points (e.g., Section 6166 deferral, portability and timely Form 706 filing, QTIP/QDOT considerations, alternate valuation date, special use valuation, Section 754 basis adjustments, and S corporation trust elections) so you can advise confidently when the clock is running.
Highlights
Key issues for decedent’s estates.
Prerequisites
None.
Designed For
CPAs and tax professionals.
Objectives
Identify the filing requirements, signing authority, and timing considerations for a decedent’s final Form 1040. Distinguish items reportable on the final 1040 versus Form 1041, including wages, retirement distributions, trust income, dividends, and installment sale income. Apply special allocation and limitation rules for decedents with S corporation, partnership, and passive activity interests, including the treatment of suspended losses at death. Evaluate Income in Respect of a Decedent (IRD) issues and explain why certain post-death receipts do not receive a basis adjustment. Analyze and select fiduciary income tax elections (e.g., fiscal year selection, Section 645 election, administration expense deduction placement, and the 65-day election) based on taxpayer-specific facts. Assess planning implications of key post-mortem estate tax elections and deferral provisions, including portability, QTIP/QDOT, alternate valuation, special use valuation, and Section 6166 installment payment eligibility. Determine when entity-level elections (e.g., Section 754 basis adjustment and S corporation trust elections such as QSST/ESBT) may be appropriate following a shareholder/partner’s death.
Preparation
None.
Notice
This is a FlexCast (no exam required) and may be viewed only Monday - Saturday, 5am - 5pm PT. You may take up to one year from the date of purchase to complete the course. Pause your FlexCast and resume at a convenient day during the hours above. Partial credit for 2+ credit courses: If you are unable to complete the course in one sitting, partial credit can be awarded (minimum of one credit). To earn the remaining credits, you must return later and start the course from the beginning. Use chat to ask questions of a subject matter expert during the program.
Leader(s):
Leader Bios
Steven Siegel, Western CPE
Steven G. Siegel, JD, LLM, is president of The Siegel Group, which provides consulting services to attorneys, accountants, business owners, family offices, and financial planners. Based in Morristown, New Jersey, the Group provides services throughout the United States.
Steven is the author of many books, including: The Grantor Trust Answer Book (2018 CCH); The Adviser’s Guide to Financial and Estate Planning(AICPA 2019); Federal Fiduciary Income Taxation (Foxmoor 2019); and Federal Estate and Gift Tax (Foxmoor 2016). He is also a co-author with Richard Oshins, Esq. of The Anatomy of the Perfect Modern Trust, Estate Planning Magazine January and February 2016.
In conjunction with numerous tax-planning lectures he has delivered for the National Law Foundation, Steven has prepared extensive lecture materials on the following subjects: planning for an aging population, business entities, preparing the audit-proof federal estate tax return, business acquisitions, representing buyers and sellers in sale of a business, dynasty trusts, planning with intentionally defective grantor trusts, estate planning, S corporations, divorce, and many others.
Steven has delivered hundreds of lectures to thousands of attendees in live venues and via webinars throughout the United States on tax, business, and estate planning topics on behalf of numerous organizations, including Western CPE, the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute, CCH, National Law Foundation, AICPA, Yale School of Management, University of Chicago Business School, the National Society of Accountants, Cohn-Reznick, Foxmoor Education, many state CPA societies and estate planning councils, and on behalf of private companies.
He’s presently serving as an adjunct professor of law in the graduate tax program (LLM) of the University of Alabama School of Law, and he has served as an adjunct professor of law at Seton Hall University and Rutgers University law schools.
Steven holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa); a juris doctor from Harvard Law School; and an LLM in taxation from New York University Law School.
Non-Member Price $113.00
Member Price $98.00