Trusts and Finances in Pennsylvania

Tax Refunds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Decedent’s Estate

Tax Refund Planning is the key to financial success.

Financial planning for 2011, make an emergency fund one of your priorities.

Avoid expensive refund anticipation loans. Recent Lawsuits RALs allow tax preparers to hide how much they are really charging for tax preparation because preparation fees are usually taken out of the loan in advance, consumer advocates say.

 

 

Pennsylvania law has a provision allowing a surviving spouse to elect to “take against” the will to the extent of one third of the decedent’s estate.

The decedent wanted the older child to run the business. He had retired from active involvement and placed his older child in charge. However, he made no arrangements other than in his will for the transfer of the business to that child. This was clearly a mistake. Planning for the business transition could have been completed before the decedent’s death in ways that could have protected the older child’s management of the business. The second wife should have been asked to sign a prenuptial agreement, very common these days, especially in second marriages, to limit her rights against the estate. The wife could also have been provided for through insurance or other planning techniques.

An important service that lawyers can offer to business clients is to help them address these issues and, if other types of professionals are needed to facilitate the process, to recommend hiring such people.