|
|
| www.1001TopWords.com |
|
|
How to Deal With A Death in the Family and Still Run Your Small Business
As a small business owner we have to deal with tax law changes, local ordinances, environmental laws, Worker's Compensation, etc. Just when we thought we had everything under control, something terrible happenes. A death in the family. Oh my God you say? What do I do now? Well since I have been there, let me tell you what you need to know. When someone close died in my life, I plunged immediately into an unfamiliar state of emotion, frustration, anxiety and grief. Needless to say, I wasn't any good to my business. I couldn't make decisions and was totally helpless not knowing what to do. After talking to financial advisors, attorneys and accountants, all of which was very time consuming and extremely costly, I learned that I had a lot more to learn. If you have a death in the family and all of a sudden you realize you are in charge, gather the following information before consulting the professionals. It will save you time away from your business and relieve some of the stress. Not to mention make it easier for your consultants and saving you money. Here is a list of the things you may need to do to settle the estate and who can help you with answers: GENERAL PROCESS FOR ESTATE SETTLEMENT Send for Copies of Death Certificate Gather Information on Estate Assets: Executor, Trustee, Family Members, Financial Advisors Meetings With Estate Planning Attorney, Accountant, Financial Advisors Valuation of Assets - Date of Death or Alternate Date Six Months Later: Executor, Trustee, Family Members, Financial Advisors Get Appraisals for Real Property and Business Interests: Executor, Trustee, Family Members Preparation and Filing of United States Estate Tax Return Form 706: Attorney Preparation of Estate Settlement Allocation Schedule: Attorney Preparation and Filing of Estate Income Tax Return: Attorney and Accountant Meetings With Family To Determine Appropriate Reallocation of Estate Assets Consider - Assets and Amounts to be Placed Into A/B, A/B/C or Other Trusts, Needs And Abilities Of Surviving Spouse, Family Gifting Programs: Executor, Trustee, Family Members, Financial Advisors Set Up Listing of Buys/Sells for Schedule D of the Applicable Income Tax Returns: Executor, Trustee, Family Members, Financial Advisors Transfer and Change of Title/Ownership Registration of Estate Assets into Newly Created Trusts, Existing Trusts, Business, Joint or Personal Accounts: Executor, Trustee, Family Members, Financial Advisors Preparation and Filing of Applicable Joint and/or Individual Income Tax Returns: Accountant One of the hardest parts of estate settling I found was the filing of the Estate Tax Return. The following is much of the information you will need. Your accountant and attorney will ask for it so you may as well have it ready. INFORMATION NEEDED FOR UNITED STATES ESTATE TAX RETURN FOR EACH ASSET IN THE ESTATE YOU WILL NEED TO INDICATE THE OWNERSHIP. FOR EXAMPLE: DECEDENT, SPOUSE, JOINT WITH SPOUSE, JOINT WITH OTHER JOINT TENANTS, TENANTS IN COMMON, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, GENERAL PARTNERSHIP, PART OF BUSINESS INTEREST Real Estate: Description, Property Appraisal, Valuation Include Personal Residence Here If Applicable Stocks and Bonds: Description, CUSIP Number, Number of Shares, Price Per Share, Bond Par Value, Number of Bonds, Price Per Bond, Total Value Mortgages and Notes: Face Value and Unpaid Balance, Date of Mortgage or Note, Date of Maturity, Name of Maker, Property Mortgaged, Interest Dates and Rate of Interest Cash: Name and Address of Financial Institution, Account Balance, Account Number, Nature of Account - Checking, Savings, C.D.'s Insurance on Life: Name of Insurance Company, Policy Number, Number of Decedents: Form 712 Life Insurance Statement from Company, Include - Insurance on Decedent's life receivable by orfor benefit of estate and receivable by beneficiaries other than the estate Jointly Owned Property: Information as indicated above - Interests Held By Decedent and Spouse as the Only Joint Tenant, All Other Joint Tenants Other Misc. Property: In this section list items not included in any other; section above such as - Debts Due the Decedent Interests in Business Interests in Partnership or Unincorporated Business Insurance on Life of Another Section 2044 (QTIP from Prior Transfer) Property Claims, Judgements Rights, Royalties, Leaseholds Reversionary or Remainder Interests Shares in Trust Funds Household Goods and Personal Effects Automobiles, Boats, R.V.'s Annuities, IRA's Name of Financial Institution, Trustee or Custodian Pensions: Description Account Number, Account Value, Beneficiary Information; Transfers During, If Applicable, All Necessary Information Decedents Life: Powers of Appointment: If Applicable, All Necessary Information In addition to all of the above information for the federal estate tax return, you will need information including descriptions, asset values and expense amounts for the following allowable estate deductions: Funeral Expenses I hope you never have to use this information. But if you do, this will save you thousands of dollars in consulting fees, weeks of lost revenues from your business and a lot the stress, hardship and anxiety I went through. "Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Dying On the Inside: A Childs Grief The impatient tooting of a car horn startled us into awareness. No one had thought beyond making it through the grievous night. Now the sun was up, and it took a moment to realize that this was just like any other school day - for everyone else. Distasteful tasks always fall to the youngest child, so I was pushed, unceremoniously, out the door. The Twists and Turns of Life When I was born in 1962 I thought life was good. I had two parents, a twin sister, and an older brother. We lived in an apartment until my sister and I were eleven, and then we moved into a house. My brother was twenty-one years old so he moved onto his own apartment. I was the luckiest girl in the world. The Truth About Emotional Intelligence There is so much emphasis on emotional intelligence these days that it appears that people are suppressing their emotions and problems in an effort to "fit in," to keep their jobs, and using "positive self-talk" to muscle through the rough spots in their lives. Angel of Comfort... The Story I am an Angel artist and several weeks ago while listening to the late night news, a news story came on that really touched my heart. On the way home in the wedding limo ... a drunk driver caused a horrible wreck, resulting in the loss of a child and the limo driver. This story stayed in my mind. A few days later, a woman emailed me requesting my help. She wanted to know if an Angel painting could be created for this family. I immediately knew who the family was. I heard a voice say ..."Yes, you can help ... Create an Angel of Comfort for her painting ... their energies are needed here." I emailed the woman and she immediately commissioned the painting. Grief & Loss - Healing Your Broken Heart What is it about Grief & Loss that upsets us so much? Is it the heavy duty emoting that we have to do to get through our suffering? Is it the fear we have about opening ourselves to all this pain? Because, let's face it, it's hard down there, in the land of grieving where all those emotions toss us around like a cork on a stormy sea. Suicide in the Church Part 2 In a town the size of mine - about 16,000 - can a few suicides within a 90-day period be considered an epidemic? I'd say so. Quite a few Christians have contacted me since these tragedies have occurred, people struggling with the in's and out's of suicide and its effect on one's eternal reward, among other concerns. These included the wife of one of the recent suicide victims. As a certified Workplace Chaplain, I receive various ministerial and counseling materials in the mail and one recent article presented some jarring statistics about suicide and its effects on those left behind. Physiological Consequences of Carrying Emotional Trauma Although many of us carry some form of emotional trauma in our bodies, and therefore in our energy fields, do we ever really stop to question the impact that it is having on our overall health? If you are like most individuals you probably just want to forget its even there. The thought of revisiting it probably just makes you feel sick. We are the Reflection of our Lives: How to Survive Loss & Humility Everyday, I look in the mirror to see the face staring back at me. Sometimes it is lined with stress, sorrow and grief. Other times, it simply smiles in humbled reservation. But the reflection of our lives... that, is who we are -- who we represent ourselves to be. For some, it is wearing hearts upon their sleeves; for others, their thoughts and words go unspoken forever. One Stray Tear The delight lit my face as the couple turned the corner into the hallway where we stood in lively conversation. I threw my arms open wide, ignored the cell phones plastered to their ears, greeted each of them, first the husband then the wife who followed slightly behind him. After Suicide: Returning to Life, Thanks to an Owl Have you ever lost the ability to laugh? I did. One Womans Way of Dealing With Grief All of us at one time or another have felt grief: perhaps over a lost job, lost love, or the most heartbreaking, the death of someone we loved dearly. Each of us goes about the task of grieving in our own distinct way. Grief Support: The Don?ts 1) Don't try to make the grieving person feel better. YOU CANNOT. For many grievers it only serves to make them feel guilty or worse. Grievers MUST experience the pain of grief for healing to ultimately occur. Do You Know Someone Whos Dying? Too many people are dying alone? Loss Involves Change - The Transformative Power of Loss and Change There are many experiences in life, which remind us that change is an inevitable part of living. We then have to choose to either to resist this process or look for new ways of finding meaning in our lives. Losing a loved one to homicide, for example, is one of those changes that throw our lives into chaos and disarray. We are forced to see our world very differently, knowing that things will never be the same again. Our loss involves substantial change in every aspect of our lives. If Ever It Is Me With my father, his brother and their father having had late onset Alzheimer's I can't help but wonder if someday it will be my fate. This is what I have told my family. Whens Sarah Coming Home? Helping Your Child Understand Death For most children, their first experience with grief comes with the death of a beloved family pet. When Zoe the eight-week old puppy dies of parvovirus or Tweety the budgie stops singing his morning song, a child experiences profound and lasting loss for the first time in their young lives. Good Grief! If tears are an indication of how special my relationship with my mother was, I cry with pride! I've come to see grief as pain with a purpose. Interestingly enough, as I cared for my mother in my home the last several weeks of her life, much of what I had learned through spiritual teachings about death had gone out the window. It seemed as though I were losing her forever! At times, I wallowed in sadness and self-pity. Watching Death Like it or not, we think in line with our customs and tradition often times, right down to the level of how we think of death, or about death. I was a licensed counselor for many years, and the issue came up a few times, and I was sad at its results, to hear Americas shamefully trying to avoid talking about it. But let me put that aside and finish the article. Yes customs and traditions set down; do play a big part in how we view death. Death being a normal and natural thing; we mimic our parents and our TV heroes, and how they portray death. Why so much gloom out there on death [?] It has been around for a long time, as long as I've been around anyhow, fifty-seven years. It is often a taboo subject to talk bout it in certain places. But you can see a lot of books on the subject; more than I can count. Graceful Grief: Angelic Help is on the Way! I believe that major change and loss in our lives is a door to grow ourselves, to become more loving, compassionate and accepting towards others and ourselves. We have choices that determine what the journey will look like. Who has the Worst Pain During the 28 years I have been interacting with bereaved people, one of the most frequent questions I have been asked is, "Who has the worst pain?" Do bereaved parents suffer more than widows and widowers? Do children whose parents die feel more agony than children who lose a sibling? Is it harder to watch a loved one suffer for a long time before death releases the victim than it is to answer the doorbell or the phone at midnight and suddenly hear the news of tragedy? Is suicide worse than homicide? Is the death of an "older" child more difficult to grieve than the death of a newborn or infant?
|
| © Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |