Can Retirement Accounts End Up in Probate?

For some people, avoiding or minimizing probate is a key goal guiding their estate planning. Probate court is a proceeding to manage the distribution of a deceased person's assets when there is no will, or there is a will, but there is also a dispute or some lack of clarity regarding the disposition of assets. Probate can also handle conservatorships, guardianships, and involuntary commitments.

Private Equity as an Alternative Investment: What You Need to Know

Private equity is a way to invest in private companies outside of the public stock market. Private equity investing gives investors an ownership stake in private companies. There are three parties involved in private equity: the investors who provide the capital, the private equity firm that manages and invests the money via a private equity fund, and the companies the private equity firm invests in.

How Does Inheritance Tax Work?

When people use the term "inheritance tax," they generally refer to a levy against money or property that a person or entity inherits from someone who gives it to them in a will. However, there is sometimes confusion between an inheritance tax and the federal estate tax, which is different. In fact, there is no federal inheritance tax, although there is an estate tax. The IRS defines the estate tax as:

What Is the Difference Between a Schedule D and Form 4797?

Taxpayers who sold capital assets (i.e., property) will use Schedule D and maybe Form 4797 when filing their tax returns. Which form you use depends on the asset being used for personal or business use. In this article, we’ll go over these two tax documents and look at their differences.

What Is the Inheritance Tax Rate?

As George Harrison of the Beatles famously wrote in his hit song "The Taxman," citizens seem to be taxed on everything, including death itself. Harrison's advice to be sure and "declare the pennies on your eyes" was obviously satire directed at the notoriously high levies in the United Kingdom. In the United States, we are not exempt from high taxes, although there is confusion about the difference between inheritance taxes and estate taxes.

What Is the Standard Deduction on Form 1040-SR?

Vision loss among the elderly is a serious problem – according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, one in three seniors over the age of 65 has some type of vision impairment. Macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy are the most common causes of age-related vision loss.¹