[mlmr]

The full amount of my share was on the 1099. That was 50% of the total. It was some sort of investment vehicle. I did use about 7500 to pay on an outstanding bill of his that was due. Can I deduct paying his estate expenses? My brother needed the money immediately because he had not paid any bills during the last three months of my father's life. Dad had a 15000 credit card bill and brother and I decided to quickly get the money out of the IRA and split the cost of the bill. The rest of the estate went through probate.

[Alberta's Child]

. . . brother and I decided to quickly get the money out of the IRA and split the cost of the bill.

Now a blip just showed up on my radar screen. Are you saying that the annuity was in some kind of tax-sheltered or tax-deferred account?

[GovernmentShrinker]

You cannot be tazed on an amount that came from your father estate and was used to pay a debt of your father's estate. However, because the money went through you first, you may have to jump through some hoops to prove to the IRS that that's what the money went for. You really do need to hire a CPA to answer these questions, though not necessarily to prepare the tax return for you.

[lchoro]

If you had contacted the credit card company and explained that the accountholder had passed away, they would've closed the account and likely frozen the debt. All of the accounts ( $ 40,000 worth ) of my late father were frozen after I contacted them, contrary to the advice of the attorney. The estate managed to pay off all of the debts within a year but incurred no more interest.

I would get a CPA to do your taxes. Since the funds were used to pay off expenses of your late father, you and your brother might have to declare the $ 15,000 as a loan from you and your brother to the estate. You might be able to declare accrued interest owed by the estate to you as a deductible expense and the estate would have to reimburse for the amount of the loan plus the interest.