TOPS - The On-line Paralegal Source
TOPS - The On-line Paralegal Source
Probate Law|
For those among you who like to plan, what is more rewarding than planning for your demise? This page provides access to relevant sites on preparing wills, powers of attorney and health care directives, as well as some sites for estate planning. It also accesses NJ inheritance tax rules and federal estate tax law, as well as providing connections to tax sources and tax professionals. For RVCC students, there is a tutorial on the preparation of NJ Health Care Directives and the Simple (or not so simple, depending on your point of view) Will. A probate paralegal assists her employer in all aspects of estate planning for the client from drafting wills and trusts to administering the estates of those who are deceased. Effective paralegals working in this area of law will know something about accounting and tax law, employee benefits law, and even social security. They will need to do things from asset valuation and arranging the time and place of a will signing, to drafting and reviewing necessary legal documents from wills to health care directives to tax returns to final estate accountings. Since some probate matters do end up in court, a working knowledge of litigation practices and the probate court rules is also necessary. The para-professional here will likely handle sensitive issues for clients who may be facing a difficult time with trepidation.
Probate LawThe following sources provide an overview of this area of law:
Government Tax SourcesThere are a myriad of government tax documents that may need to be filed in the administering of an estate. What follows is a list of NJ and federal sites that lead you to almost any government source you need on taxation for estate planning and administration…happy hunting! Federal:In administering an estate, there are several federal tax forms that may need filing. Since an estate is a separate entity under federal law, it must be assigned its own tax ID number, so you may need a Form W-9: Request for Taxpayer ID. If the estate generates income or losses during its administration, you may need to file a Form 1041: Federal Tax Return for Estates & Trusts. If life insurance proceeds are involved, you will need a Form 712: Life Insurance Statement. If the estate is valued over a certain amount of money, which changes each year under the Taxpayer Relief Act, you may need to file Form 706: US Estate Tax Return. And finally, it is likely that you will need to file the last income tax return for the decedent using Form 1041: Individual Income Tax Return.
NJ State:New Jersey assesses both an inheritance tax and an estate tax on certain estates, so in handling the administration of the estate of a NJ decedent, you may have to file Form IT-R: Inheritance Tax Return and/or Form IT-Estate: Estate Tax Return. Depending on the nature and ownership of decedent’s property, you may also need Waivers from the Inheritance Tax Bureau, such as Form L-8: Affidavit & Self-Executing Waiver or Form L-9: Affidavit Requesting Real Property Tax Waiver.
Professionals & Professional AssociationsThe following sources will help you find probate law professionals in any area of the country:
Forms & DocumentsMany forms are state-specific and software can be purchased at a relatively low cost to handle most probate matters…and the software even does the math calculations! RVCC uses EasySoft Estate Planning Software www.easysoft-usa.com which provides will forms, trust forms and even necessary estate tax returns. Not many probate forms can be found on-line and for free, but you can check out:
Tutorial for RVCC StudentsYou must be a currently enrolled RVCC student with an assigned WebCT ID and Password to access this secure area at http://webct.raritanval.edu/SCRIPT/tops/scripts/serve_home. After logging in to
the Home page, please use the icon labeled "Probate Law". |
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