Digest for misc.consumers.frugal-living@googlegroups.com - 2 updates in 1 topic

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• Power of attorney - 2 Updates

Power of attorney

Beaver_Fever@live.com: Nov 12 07:53AM -0800 > of it as he can, prepare any tax returns, and disburse the assets per the will. > Without a will, the probate court will appoint an executor and like you say, > who gets what will follow what is provided for in state law.   No will or executor (I have like no close friends and family is scattered).   What I mean is I am getting loads of electronic payments on a daily basis which are reported to the IRS but only a small part is profit which means without the accounting if they would consider it all taxable income then take all the cash I have left.   I know I gotta make one. Once upon a time it didn't matter but things took a hard turn in the other direction in the last few years.   I keep a running tally, on my computer.   If anything were to happen to me, I am sure my mom could really use the money.

trader4@optonline.net: Nov 12 09:20AM -0800 > > Without a will, the probate court will appoint an executor and like you say, > > who gets what will follow what is provided for in state law.   > No will or executor (I have like no close friends and family is scattered).   It's better to have a will and executor at a distance, than no executor at all. A will is essential in determining who gets what, unless you're OK with state law, which governs that, absent a will.         > What I mean is I am getting loads of electronic payments on a daily basis which are reported to the IRS but only a small part is profit which means without the accounting if they would consider it all taxable income then take all the cash I have left.   If those payments are for sales, no competent executor would just take sales as income. There should also be similar records of payments for goods sold and other expenses. An executor would sort through all that, perhaps together with an accountant, or whoever does your tax returns, etc. They also should have previous years income tax returns available as a reference. If they see you did $500K in sales last year, had expenses of $X, paid $10K in income tax, no competent executor would report $500K in income to the IRS and state.       > I know I gotta make one. Once upon a time it didn't matter but things took a hard turn in the other direction in the last few years.   > I keep a running tally, on my computer.   > If anything were to happen to me, I am sure my mom could really use the money.   Then you should prepare a will. There are PC programs available that can do a simple will, provided you can follow the directions to get it correctly witnessed, notarized, etc., which is essential. I bought a copy of Quicken Will Maker that was a few years old for a few bucks on Ebay. The laws governing wills rarely change year to year, the program will generate a will that is legal in any of the 50 states.   Besides a will, just having a list of relatives, copies of a few previous years income tax returns, a list of all bank accounts where you have money, location of any safety deposit boxes, receipts for current year's business expenses, etc, would be a huge plus. That would be extremely useful to any executor, even if one has to be appointed because you die without a will. But if you want to leave it all to your mother and reduce the chaos and costs of having the state appoint an executor, then you need a will. IDK what state you live in or the laws there, but I'm in NJ and you can generate a will with the Quicken program, it then needs to be witnessed by two people of legal age, before a notary public when you sign it. Here in NJ those two people could be anyone, even an executor, your mother, or a person working in whatever place you have it notarized. But it's best if they are of age to likely survive you, actually have known you, will be around if the need arises later. Usually there is no need, unless the will is later challenged for some reason. The other choice is to use a lawyer, who will probably charge you a few hundred bucks to draw it up. An advantage there, they can notarize it, have the office folks be a witness, deal with any special issues you have, etc.

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