Can folks recommend a good estate accountant?

[jducoeur]

*Sigh*. Okay, I should have dealt with this six months ago, but life has been crazy. Suffice it to say, I thought I had a plan, which has turned out to be inoperative.

I am in need of a good accountant ASAP, probably for the next two years -- I'm specifically looking for someone who is experienced with estate law. The immediate need is, of course, to help me with the taxes. It isn't so much that the numbers are complicated as that my situation is unusual, and I have little faith that TurboTax can cope with it. I need to understand things like how to handle Jane's life insurance; what to do about the (very large) payments I made for her final health and funeral bills (which I believe will *eventually* get repaid from the estate, but I don't know whether I should be accounting for them this year); and perhaps most important, what to do about the estate itself given that it is still in legal limbo, with me having no power to manage it yet. (I believe its formal income this year should be small, but it's all horribly weird since I haven't been able to actually deposit any of the checks it has received.)

Also, in the medium term, I'll hopefully finally be appointed administrator of the estate -- at which point I need to understand my legal obligations in considerable detail, especially with regard to how to manage it during the process.

So: anybody got a recommendation? It would be much appreciated...

Comments

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Robin and I use a very excellent accountant in Waltham, for both her varied business needs and our complicated personal tax situation. Her name is Loretta McClary - she used to work for a very good friend of ours who was a partner in one of the larger so-called "White Shoe" tax firms downtown, and he recommended her to us.

Believe it or not, she has TWO Ph.D's in taxation. No slouch. Tell her that Robin's husband said hi. :-) (She's known Robin for ages. Me, far less so.)

For probate issues if you need legal advice, I'm using Ann Cushing, of Cushing and Dolan, who was recommended by Loretta and who is handling all my probate and family law issues now. She's low key, plain speaking, but very sharp, and her firm does all kinds of end-of-life, elder care and estate issues, as well as stuff related to my particular situation. Tell her I said hi, as well. :-)

[jducoeur]

Thanks. The legal advice per se isn't an issue -- I sort of inherited Joan Fischer, who was Jane's lawyer in her final days, and we've been working closely together for some months. But the accountant she had recommended to me just retired...

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Ah. Well, you may find someone you like better than Loretta, but she's eminently qualified.

Does Joan have someone she particularly likes working with? There may be advantages there in having a very good working relationship there.

[jducoeur]

That's the thing -- she *did* have someone she was used to working with. That's the one who just retired. She's checking to see if he has any specific recommendations, but in the meantime I'm looking into it myself...

[la-peregrina.livejournal.com]

The Executor's Handbook was a good place to start for me. There should be a copy in your local library. If you were in New Jersey, I would be recommending Paul Abrams of Abrams and McKeever as an accountant.

If your state has some kind of legal directory, as New Jersey does, I would suggest going there to find a decent estate lawyer if you need one.

[jducoeur]

Interesting -- I'll look up the Handbook. Thanks!