Estate & Trust Administration For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 17

Preparing the Estate Tax Return, Part 2

IN THIS CHAPTER

Filling out the most common Form 706 schedules

Seeking help for all the rest

For many, preparing the Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, is the sterling achievement in the quest to competently administer an estate. After all, in most instances, the return is a fairly straightforward accounting of what the decedent owned and owed when he or she died. (Chapter 16 helps you with filling out the basics of Form 706.) However, if you’re not completely confident after we walk through the schedules in this chapter, and if you find yourself faced with some of the more complex schedules, which we don’t deal with at length here, we suggest that you consult with either an attorney or an accountant who’s knowledgeable about estate tax matters for assistance.

In this chapter, we give you an in-depth look at the schedules you’re likely to take a crack at completing yourself and a heads-up on the schedules that address more complex areas of tax law.

Tackling the Most Common Schedules

Form 706 has a schedule for every occasion, but only rare estates have property and/or expenses diverse enough to require you to prepare every schedule. Basically, schedules are the places you list the individual ...