Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Montana
final federal tax return for deceased
my mother died jan 9, 2007 in wa state. all her assets were in mt. under the control of a conservator, who by order of a judge were told to cash them in at renewal and put everything in a higher int acct. her assets were all in cd's. our half brother is the p. r. of the will. he hired a mt. probate atty. the investment co the money from the cd's was in recieved $12000.00 in interest for 2007. is the interest the only thing that will be declared on the final fed tax return for my mother? the probate atty is hinting that the money from the cd's also has to go into that tax return. my mother also got one ss check for 2007. any help would be appreciated.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: final federal tax return for deceased
I can't tell from your question whether this is a WA probate or not, either.
The MT attorney is a clue that the probate is happening in MT. Your mother will have had income for the nine days of January 2007 (plus her SSI).
Sounds as though the estate has had income this year from the CDs. I agree that the estate's income will have to be reported, but I cannot comment any further because I'm not licensed in MT.
Hope that helps. Elizabeth Powell
Re: final federal tax return for deceased
There is a critical piece of information missing in this question. What state was you mother a resident of at her death? If she was a resident of the state of Washington, then this should be handled as a Washington probate case. All income that you mother had in 2007 that qualifies as income under the federal income tax law should be on the income tax return (Social Security payments are income).