A Painful Lesson: The Real Price of Ignoring US Estate Tax Planning

What happens if I don’t make a US Estate Tax plan?

Good Question!  Let me tell you about a file that I am working on.

An Israeli man, we’ll call him Boaz, died with $285,000 of real estate in Georgia. He lived in Israel and died about 5 years ago.

His estate was probated in the Israeli courts. The lawyer for his heirs called me and asked me to work out freeing up the real estate assets for sale. No problem- first step is to get the US Estate tax return filed.

The return is ready to file, and the estate owes almost $70,000, not to mention penalties that will be assessed later, which could reach $40,000!

Now, the heirs have to figure out how to raise $100,000 to free up the houses, as they can’t be sold until the tax is paid. I can help them finance their tax payments, but it will take time and money. So, eventually they’ll get the houses and be able to sell them- but instead of inheriting  $285,000, they will inherit around $175,000. That’s only a little over 60% of the value of the full inheritance!

None of these taxes needs to happen. If Boaz had consulted with me before he died, I could have reduced his Estate taxes to zero.

Don’t be like Boaz- call now.

Avrum Aaron

US-Israeli lawyer

avrum@lop-llc.com

054-398-4380