Personal services
Estate and trust taxation
Form 1041 fiduciary returns, federal and New York estate tax filings, and practical support for an executor or trustee who did not ask to become one.
✓ Form 1041 fiduciary returns✓ Federal and NYS estate tax✓ Executor support
Being named executor is an obligation, not an honor, and most people learn the job while grieving. There is a decedent's final return to file, possibly an estate income tax return for each year the estate stays open, potentially an estate tax return, and a set of decisions about basis and timing that permanently affect what the beneficiaries receive.
New York adds a specific trap. The state estate tax exemption phases out sharply — an estate a little over the threshold can lose the entire exemption rather than only the excess, so a small difference in value produces an enormous difference in tax. Planning around it is worth real money, and it has to happen while there is still time.
Returns and filings
Final Form 1040
The decedent's return for the year of death, including the medical deduction election that is often available.
Form 1041
Fiduciary income tax for the estate or trust, for each year it remains open, with K-1s to beneficiaries.
Form 706 and NYS ET-706
Federal and New York estate tax returns where the thresholds are met — and the portability election, which is worth filing for even when no tax is due.
Form 709
Gift tax returns, including the split-gift election and reporting that preserves the lifetime exemption record.
Trust returns
Grantor, simple and complex trusts, and the distinction between them that decides who pays the tax.
Estate accounting
Schedules for the Surrogate's Court and for beneficiaries.
Where the money actually is
The decisions below routinely matter more to the family than the preparation fee for any of the returns above.
Basis step-up
Assets receive a new basis at death. Documenting date-of-death values properly is what turns that into a real saving when they are sold.
The New York cliff
The state exemption phases out over a narrow band. Just above the threshold can mean losing the exemption altogether.
Portability
A surviving spouse can inherit the unused federal exemption, but only if Form 706 is filed — often when no tax is owed at all.
Fiscal year election
An estate may choose a fiscal year, which can defer beneficiary income by up to eleven months.
The 65-day rule
Distributions in the first 65 days of a year can be treated as made in the prior year, which shifts income to whoever is in the lower bracket.
Inherited retirement accounts
The ten-year rule and its exceptions, where getting the withdrawal schedule wrong is expensive and permanent.
Fiduciary fees
Quoted after reviewing the will or trust instrument and a schedule of assets.
| Decedent's final Form 1040 Year of death |
from $395 |
| Form 1041 fiduciary return Per year, including K-1s |
from $750 |
| Federal estate tax return — Form 706 Including portability election |
from $4,500 |
| Portability-only Form 706 Where no tax is due |
from $2,400 |
| New York estate tax — ET-706 Filed with or without the federal |
from $2,800 |
| Gift tax return — Form 709 Per year |
from $650 |
| Executor support Hourly, for the questions that arise along the way |
$285 / hour |
General information, current for the 2026 filing season and not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Tax law changes, and the answer for your situation may differ. Speak to us before acting on anything you read here.
Questions
Estate & Trust Tax — the questions we are asked most
I have been named executor. What do I do first?
Secure the assets, obtain certified death certificates, and get an EIN for the estate before anything else. Then come in with the will and a rough list of assets — the first meeting is largely about establishing what has to be filed and by when.
Does New York have its own estate tax?
Yes, separately from the federal one and with a much lower threshold. It also has a cliff: once the estate exceeds the exemption by a modest margin the exemption is lost entirely rather than merely reduced. This is the single most important number to check early.
Do beneficiaries pay tax on what they inherit?
Generally no — inheritances are not income. But income the estate earns after death is taxable, distributions carry that income out to beneficiaries on a K-1, and inherited retirement accounts are fully taxable as they are withdrawn.
How long does an estate stay open?
Usually between one and two years for a straightforward estate. It stays open until the assets are distributed and the final Form 1041 is filed.
Related
Often needed alongside this
Personal
Personal Tax Returns
Individual federal, New York State and New York City returns prepared and e-filed by a CPA — including the complicated ones.
Personal
Tax Planning
Planning done in the autumn, when it can still change the outcome — rather than in April, when it can only be reported.
Personal
IRS Representation
Audits, notices, back taxes, liens and payment plans — we deal with the IRS and New York State so that you do not have to.
The first conversation is free
Talk to a CPA before you decide anything
Twenty minutes on the phone or across a desk on Roosevelt Avenue. Bring last year's return if you have one — most of what we need in order to quote you is already in it.