How long does it take an accountant to do a New York estate tax return?
My mother passed away in April. All we are waiting for is our accountant to finalize the NY state estate tax return form(s) so we can disburse funds. We do not want to disburse any funds until we know this.
The estate was over 1 million, so we know there are taxes to be paid.
How long does this normally take?
June 27th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
There is no off the rack answer for this question.
June 27th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
It depends entirely upon the complexity of the estate, and how much of the scat-work you’ve done up front. Could be as little as a few hours or take months to complete.
June 27th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Maybe an hour, maybe a couple months or more to get the information necessary to do it.
I went through this a while ago. My father dies, there was no property, just a few thousand in investments, which according to the broker, could be liquidated very easily.
It tool almost a year and a half from the time I sat down with the attorney to set up the estate, to the time I could disburse it.
One excuse after another, my sister is undergoing a lung transplant, we’re waiting to hear from……., my law clerk is out for a dentists’ appointment..
My wife wanted to use this attorney because he went to school with my daughter. Never again will we use ” went to school with out daughter” as a reason to think someone is more qualified than someone else.
Perhaps you would consider being a pain in the ass and send a e mail to Gemperiodically, asking what the delay is and if there is anything you could do to speed things up, as you would like to finalize this.
Watch your mom’s estate be settled and watch a car rust.l See what gets done first.
June 27th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Sorry to dampen the spirits but…
In my personal case
2 hours to do the required income tax returns (NY and Fed) for an estate much less than a million. Then…
4 lawyers
3 probate court sessions
over …. 22 years to finally disburse the meager funds
It can take seemingly forever
June 27th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Have you followed up with the accountant. How long does the work take and how long until it is done are two different questions. If you don’t get satisfactory answers you should consider a different accountant.