Closing the Estate

• Author: Margaret A. Munro, Kathryn A. Murphy
• Profession: Has more than 30 years' experience in trusts, estates, family tax, and small businesses/Attorney with more than 20 years' experience administering estates and trusts and preparing estate and gift tax returns
• Pages: 149-158

CHAPTER 9 Closing the Estate 149

Chapter9

Closing the Estate

Administering the estate has been a long haul, but the nish line is within

easy reach now. If you’re ready to close the estate, you just need to make

sure that you wrap up all loose ends. Closing the estate may seem like a lot

of work, but trust us: Compared to what you’ve already accomplished, this nal

step is a cakewalk.

In this chapter, you reach the culmination of your hard work, dedication, and

attention to myriad details on behalf of your decedent. Here’s where you nd

everything you need to do as executor to wind up the estate and just how to do it:

getting releases of lien for real estate, paying nal administration costs, making

nal distributions to residuary beneciaries, preparing probate accounts and get-

ting them approved by the court, preparing nal income tax returns, obtaining tax

closing letters, and ling with the probate court all those receipts you collected

from the beneciaries.

Obtaining Tax Closing Letters

If you led a Form 706 United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer)

Tax Return (see Chapters 16 and17), and/or a state estate or inheritance tax

return, you need estate tax closing letters (letters saying that the IRS and the state

IN THIS CHAPTER

»

Getting the necessary documentation

to close the estate

»

Taking care of the last administrative

expenses

»

Doling out the rest of the distributions

»

Preparing and ling the nal

paperwork