Nashville Estate Administration Law Blog

It can be hard to deal with tax season, and one of the biggest issues is the state tax that is found on every paycheck. However, there are some states that treat you differently. One is Washington. In Washington, there is no state tax, but that can affect other taxes, such as your inheritance tax or property taxes.

To understand how you'll be taxed in Washington, here's a helpful list of statistics for 2019.

Probate is often a necessary part of estate distribution after the death of a loved one, but it's not always an easy part. Depending on how the estate was designed, it can be a long and tedious process to go through probate and eventually settle the estate.

Probate courts determine an executor of the estate, authenticate the will, identify the decedent's assets, identify beneficiaries and heirs and guarantee the payment of taxes and debts. The final job of the probate court is to make sure property is distributed in accordance with the person's will or state law.

Probate is a long process in some cases, and it's filled with legal requirements. As an executor, you'll want to make sure that you administer the estate quickly after your loved one dies. Probate is the way you obtain the power to do so.

When your loved one passes away, it's your job to submit the will to the court. The court then looks at the will and determines if it's legal and can be upheld. If there's a problem with it, then the assets from the estate will be distributed in accordance with state law. If the will is binding, then you will be tasked with taking care of the estate.

If you have children who have been left inheritances, it can be difficult to decide when to allow them access to those funds or assets. For the most part, children don't grasp the full value of what they've been given, so you want to wait until they're old enough to understand that they're receiving a large amount of money, a home or another valuable asset.

If the inheritance is in a trust, a trust can determine how the child receives the inheritance. Some are set up to allow for discretionary distributions. This means that the money might be used for special expenditures at the fiduciary's will as long as the beneficiary's need is valid.