Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

After the 2010 taxes are paid and the return is accepted by the tax authorities and the estate should receive a letter. You do not indicate where the estate is located. If in PA, then the personal representative must file a final account which has to be confirmed by the court. The personal representative might not want to make a distribution before the estate is confirmed.

I don't know what assets are in the estate and what kind of liability we are talking about to know whether partial distribution can occur or not. A personal representative does not want to distribute assets and then find out that added taxes are owed. In such case, the personal representative would have to ask for any money back from the beneficiaries and would be personally liable if he/she caused any loss to the estate (like tax penalties as the funds were not there).

Does the estate have an attorney? Are you the personal representative or the beneficiary? If a beneficiary, you might want to ask the personal representative if you are on speaking terms with him or her. If you are the personal representative, ask your estate attorney for an estimated timeframe.

Each case is gonig to depend on its own facts and I really cannot give you a more specific answer.

After the 2010 taxes are paid and the return is accepted by the tax authorities and the estate should receive a letter. You do not indicate where the estate is located. If in PA, then the personal representative must file a final account which has to be confirmed by the court. The personal representative might not want to make a distribution before the estate is confirmed. Assuming this is not an issue or the personal representative is willing to incur the risk, then distribution can occur now.

I don't know what assets are in the estate and what kind of liability we are talking about to know whether partial distribution can occur or not. A personal representative does not want to distribute assets and then find out that added taxes are owed. In such case, the personal representative would have to ask for any money back from the beneficiaries and would be personally liable if he/she caused any loss to the estate (like tax penalties as the funds were not there).

Does the estate have an attorney? Are you the personal representative or the beneficiary? If a beneficiary, you might want to ask the personal representative if you are on speaking terms with him or her. If you are the personal representative, ask your estate attorney for an estimated timeframe.

Each case is gonig to depend on its own facts and I really cannot give you a more specific answer other than it generally takes 1-2 years in most cases from the time of death.