Income Taxation of Estates and Trusts

by Gregory Herman-Giddens, JD, LLM, TEP, CFP®, Samantha Reichle, JD and Katie H. Muhlenkamp, JD

Estate planning practitioners will find that a good working knowledge of fiduciary income taxation is vital in assisting personal representatives and trustees in the administration of estates and trusts. The current favorable estate tax laws mean that very few of clients need be concerned with transfer tax planning. However, fiduciary income tax will affect just about every estate and trust administration. Familiarity with these rules will enable you to better serve clients in the planning stage and when the estate plan inevitably “matures.”

This article will provide a brief overview of the basic rules from an administration standpoint.