Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Louisiana
My 2 brothers and I each own 1/3 of a house, shop, and 5 acres. One brother died, leaving me and my other brother each 1/2 of his 1/3. He has not filed income taxes since 2004, and left his widow, who lives in Texas, as Executrix. He also left her 450,000.00 in life insurance. She has opened the succession, but otherwise done nothing to settle the estate, claiming the property will have to be sold to pay the taxes. I live in the house. My question is, would'nt the IRS first make her pay taxes out of the life insurance money, and second, if property does have to be sold, it would only be the 1/3 he owned, and not the 2/3 that me and my other brother have owned since 1994?
1 Answer from Attorneys
The taxes are paid by the estate. She has not accepted possession of her portion of the estate, so does not owe anything at this time. Anyone can open a succession and/or have it completed. Life insurance is separate from the estate. It goes directly to the beneficiary unless the beneficiary is the estate. However, if the taxes are individual taxes and she owes them also, the estate will only be responsible for one-half of taxes owed. If you can divide the property into thirds, then yes you would only have to sell his third to settle the debts.
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