Florida Accountants, CPA’s and Florida Probate Administration: more than just taxes in Florida probate administration

If you are a Florida executor or personal representative of a Florida estate, who is assisting you with the Florida probate administration ? Or, if you are a beneficiary of a Florida estate, who is handling the estate administration, and, is the process going smoothly?  Are good decisions being made and do you have all the facts? I know you probably have a good Florida probate lawyer, but…….   A good accountant or CPA firm can be of great help to not only the Florida executor, but also for the benefit of those the executor ultimately serves:  the beneficiaries of the Florida estate. A good accountant or CPA can assist with the probate administration process, and not just taxes.  After all, during the probate administration, you will need to file the dead person’s last federal income tax return Form 1040, which is an IRS (federal) tax return.  If the estate has an interest or income in property in another state, such as rental income from a ski chalet in Vale, or a house in Nantucket that you rented out, you may also have to pay state income tax there.  If the estate of the dead Florida person exceeds $5.25 Million, a federal estate tax return Form 706 will need to be filed.   But CPAs and accountants can do a lot more than just file tax returns during probate administration.  CPAs and accountants can account, track assets, advise on what expenses to incur and in what amount, tell you where to pay expenses from (income or principal? ) and from what source (sell the real estate? keep the high yielding bonds?).  If the Florida resident who passed away had an interest in a partnership or LLC or private corporation, there will be corporate buy-sell agreements or operating agreements to review, to know where the Florida resident’s interest in the corporation “goes.”   Who gets it?  Whose going to value all the assets, especially the hard to value, illiquid, unmarketable assets like privately held business interests, private corporations, and family businesses or fractional interests in real estate or family partnerships.  A good Florida CPA or a good Florida accountant can be an important part of your probate administration team.  And the estate can pay the CPA from estate assets. A Florida executor can even get consulting services.    Today’s Palm Beach Post, www.pbpost.com, announced that accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers www.pwc.com has agreed to purchase  consulting firm strategy& strategyand.pwc.com.  For information on CPAs in Florida, you can visit their website:  www.ficpa.org.