GATE
A COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF TRUSTS AND ESTATES

The purpose of this course is to familiarize the CPA with the problems and issues that arise in the administration of trusts and estates. This how-to course focuses on the accountant’s role as an executor, trustee, or adviser to a fiduciary.

Major Topics

• Practical issues involved when settling an estate -- Marshaling of assets, payment of creditors, and distribution and accounting to beneficiaries
• Explaining the needs and limitations of durable powers of attorney, health care directives, and living wills
• Legal issues in probating and contesting a will
• Comprehensive checklists on how to read a will, duties of an executor and trustee, and much more
• Inventory of estate assets
• What to do and what not to do as a fiduciary, executor, or trustee -- Duty of care, investment, informing, payment of debts and taxes, defending a will contest
• How executors and trustees interact with beneficiaries
• Advising a surviving spouse on elective shares
• Special issues involving incompetents or minors
• Rights of creditors, third parties, and beneficiaries
• Key issues in transferring property to a trust and from a trust or estate to a beneficiary
• Identifying income, estate, and inheritance taxes
• Fiduciary accounting -- Principal and income concepts
• Administration of revocable trusts

Learning Objectives

• To identify the major documents encountered in estate planning and their uses
• To understand the stages of an estate administration including collections, costs, payment of debts and taxes, and the distribution to beneficiaries
• To be aware of the duties a fiduciary and members of the estate planning team owe to creditors, beneficiaries, and courts

Designed For: CPAs who need a complete guide to trust and estate administration basics.

Level of Knowledge: Basic