Accounting Services for Fiduciaries

Are you the fiduciary of a Trust or Estate? Upon the passing of a loved one there are numerous things that you have to deal with, including taxes and the administration of their trust or estate. We can guide you through the steps of the various tax issues that an estate or trust must deal with, including what tax returns need to be filed. We can also assist you with any trust administration needs that you have and help to answer any questions that arise.

• Trust and Estate Tax Returns – Form 1041

  Did the trust or estate earn more than $600 of income? If so, you might have a filing requirement for the year. We can assist you with your income tax compliance while providing the best tax strategies and options.

• Estate Tax Returns – Form 706

  If the value of the decedents estate is large, you might be subject to the “death” tax. We can assist you navigate through this very confusing and important tax return. If no estate return is required, we can also assist you with obtaining an M-6A clearance, if one is needed for probate.

• Individual/Fiduciary Tax Allocations – Form 1040/1041

  For the year that the decedent passed away most times you will need to file a final U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (Form 1040) in addition to an initial U.S. Income Tax Returns for Estate and Trusts (Form 1041) to properly report the income and deductions. In some circumstances, it may be beneficial to file an initial/final fiscal year return, and we can assist you with the necessary elections and filings that need to be made.

• Rule 26 Accounting for Conservatorships, Trusts & Estates

  Rule 26 accounting is a specific format and content guideline that is adopted by the Hawaii Probate court system as the standard for an accounting that is submitted for court approval. If you are a Conservator, Personal Representative, or Trustee you might need to have a Rule 26 accounting prepared for court approval. We will work with your attorney to get this done to meet your fiduciary requirements.

• Income/Principal Allocations

  Some trusts are set up in a way where you have to keep track of “income” transactions and “principal” transactions. A common situation is when you have a beneficiary that receives “income” and another beneficiary that receives “principal”. Through our accounting, we can keep track of this so that the correct distributions can be made to the appropriate beneficiary.

• Date of Appointment/Date of Death Inventories

  Most times an inventory will be required to either file in court or sent out to the beneficiaries to notify all parties of the assets of the estate or trust from when you were first appointed. Depending on the specific circumstances of your case, we can help you determine which inventory is more appropriate for your situation or if both may be necessary.

• Budgets for Conservatorships

  Usually when an accounting is submitted with the court for approval, a budget for the next accounting period is submitted at the same time. We can assist you with preparing a budget based on the last court accounting, or help you create an initial budget for initial year Conservatorships.

• HRS 607-18 Compensation of Trustee Calculations

  Personal representatives, Conservators and Trustees can be reasonably compensated for fulfilling their fiduciary duties. We can help you calculated the amount of compensation that is considered reasonable according to the Hawaii Revised Statutes.

• Beneficiary Distribution and Reserve Calculations

  When can I make distributions and how much? You don’t want to be in a situation of distributing too much or the wrong amount to beneficiaries. We can assist you with the distribution aspect, and with calculating a reasonable reserve for you to administer the trust. We can also assist with the best tax-planning distribution scenarios to benefit the Trust and beneficiaries.

Other Tax Services

• Individuals

  Income tax…the saying is that this is one of the certainties in life. This is an annual chore for most people, but we see it as a great opportunity to help YOU. For some, you may be below the filing threshold, but it may be beneficial to file to obtain real property tax credits, which is also an annual obligation. Let us take care of this for you. All you have to do is gather your documents, make an appointment, and then let us do what we do best. We will try to minimize your tax liability, maximize your tax situation and let you enjoy your weekends.

• Various Business Entities – Partnerships, Corporations, S Corporations

  Do you own your own business? Are you involved in a business venture with others? Unlike individual taxes where there is a filing threshold, business entities are required to file annually whether they made money or not. Also, businesses registered in Hawaii need to apply for a general excise license and file general excise tax returns. Let us help you prepare the necessary tax returns, assist you with tracking your depreciable assets and strategize to maximize your business profitability. Let’s work together to take full advantage of your business potential.

• Gifts

  Did you give or receive more than $15,000 (cash or non cash) during the year? If so, you might be subject to gift taxes. Contact us, and we can discuss your situation.

• FBAR Filings

  If the aggregate value of your foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year, you are required to disclose the maximum value of all of your foreign assets to the Treasury. This includes bank accounts, brokerage accounts, mutual funds, trusts or other types. Depending on the aggregate value of your foreign financial accounts, you may be subject to including this information when filing your tax returns as well.

Other Trust Administration Services

• Assist with retitling and liquidation of assets such as stocks, bonds, bank accounts, and savings bonds

  Are you an executor or successor trustee that is overwhelmed by all of the paperwork needed to transfer and liquidate the decedent’s assets? Or you’re the trustee of your own trust, and need help retitling everything to your trust. Let us help you by filling out all of the necessary paperwork to make your lives easier. We can also assist with the follow up process in case any questions arise that you may not know the answer to.

• Research cost basis value of assets

  Most times if you’re handling the decedent’s assets, they will receive a “step up” in basis as of their date of death. However, this value is not always provided to you by the financial institutions. We can assist with obtaining this basis for you to minimize the trust/estate’s capital gains and therefore taxes when liquidating these accounts.

• Obtain appraisals for real estate or tangible personal property

  Current appraisals, date of death or both? We have worked with appraisers who specialize in both real estate and tangible personal property, and can help coordinate the necessary appraisals depending on your needs and reasons for obtaining one.

• Apply for TIN

  Did someone pass away? Did you start a new business? These are situations where a new tax identification number (TIN) might be necessary. We can assist you with obtaining one so you can have it to open bank accounts and transfer assets.

• Notary Services

  A lot of financial institutions require their transfer forms to either be notarized and/or medallion guaranteed by a bank. We can assist with filling out the necessary paperwork, and perform the notary service if necessary.

We strive to provide you with quality service at a reasonable price and in a timely manner. We understand that every client is unique, so call us today to discuss your particular needs and let’s see how we can help.