In an IRS notice effective just this past Monday (Sept. 12th), the IRS gave executors of 2010 estates a bit more time to decide if they are going to remain in the default estate tax regime or opt out.
Before this notice, the cart was before the horse:
“To make it clear that the Form 8939 is due in January and that estate tax returns are not due until March gets them in the right order,” Ron Aucutt, partner with McGuireWoods said. “It was very awkward for executors to have to file a return by Sept. 19 when they still had until Nov. 15, in effect, to elect out of filing a return at all,” he said. Previously they were in a situation of having to file an estate tax return when they still were not sure if they were going to elect out, he said.
On a personal note, my dad passed away a few years ago. I know that it is hard enough to deal with the grief of losing a loved one without having to worry about the IRS, the estate tax law changes and Form 89-whatever. I’m writing this post to give you a heads up on a change in the rules, but also to encourage anyone who needs help with this to seek out some assistance from a tax professional, whether its from us or not. You need time to grieve and heal, which is almost impossible to do if you are dealing with things like this.
