Services for Attorneys and Financial Planners

I will work with you either as a subcontractor or referral target. Some clients prefer to have on professional point of contact, others are more comfortable hiring me directly.

My philosphy about trust administration

I believe that there is a lack of oversight and controls when a trust department or trust company handles all of the responsibilities. Particularly if the beneficiaries are unsophisticated or otherwise unable or unwilling to oversee the management of the trust, they have little ability to replace the trustee, accountant, or investment manager. I recommend that the trustee separately hire an attorney, CPA, and investment manager that are all copies on any correspondance throughout the year. This way there are three independent professional sets of eyes on the trust. 

Are you the trustee or do you work closely with one?

I provide tax and accounting services for trustees. 

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You might need:

Annual compilation statements

Calculation of required distributions

Calculation of separate share trust balances

Form 1041, 5227, 706-GS, and state returns

Tax planning

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Are you personal representative or do you work closely with one?

I provide tax an accounting services for personal representatives.

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You might need:

Review most recently filed tax returns

Final (and past) Forms 1040

Form 1041 (trust and estate)

Form 709 (current and prior years)

Form 706 (if there is a surviving spouse, consider portability)

Court accounting report

Financial statements in another format (a compilation report, I do not provide audits or reviews)

Fiduciary Accounting Services

Subcontract your overflow court accounting work. Much of the accounting I do to prepare Form 1041 can also be used for the court accounting. It takes a little more time to keep records in a format compatible with both court accounting forms and tax preparation, but if I know in advance, I can avoid duplicate work.

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If an estate requires an accounting for the court, I can prepare the report for you (or the PR) to file. Much of this work duplicates the bookkeeping I already had to do to prepare the fiduciary income tax return. I will work with you to avoid duplicating work as possible. It might be beneficial for me to prepare the accounting so that it can be reconciled to the tax returns. 

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Many trust documents require annual financial statements to be prepared. Simple trusts require that the accounting income be distributed annually. Accounting income is not an easy concept. I can prepare financial statements for a trust and show accounting income and separate shares. 

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I can also prepare court accountings for a conservatorship. 

Consulting

Do you need a second set of eyes on the tax consequences of your financial or estate plan?

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Do you have decedent income, gift, trust, or estate tax questions?

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Do you need someone to review your calculations?

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I can give a presentation to your group on the tax issues of a trust or estate