受托会计在遗产规划中的重要性

受托人:作为某人的受托人 信托或遗产 需要专业知识, 组织技能, 时间和细致的注意财务细节. Individuals and corporate entities who serve in this role are also legally bound to follow a series of basic principles governing the decisions of fiduciaries including an expectation to act with reasonable care (called the duty of care), acting solely on behalf of the beneficiaries of the 信托或遗产 (the duty of loyalty) and remaining impartial in serving the interests of multiple beneficiaries (duty of impartiality). 受托人还必须遵守各种州和联邦法律法规, 根据遗产或信托持有的资产类型,哪些会变得复杂.

信托会计在遗产规划标题图像

Fiduciary accounting is how fiduciaries demonstrate transparency to and for others; the fiduciary must maintain records for a variety of financial transactions, 提供利益相关者所需的信息,包括:

  • 美国国税局和州税务机构因为纳税申报表必须以遗产或信托的名义提交, the value of the assets and the income generated by those assets are all critical to determining 纳税义务.  
  • 受益人: Fiduciary accounting provides beneficiaries with the peace of mind to know their assets are being managed in a reasonable and fair manner. 当信托或遗产有多个受益人时, fiduciary accounting provides transparency for them to recognize that the fiduciary is acting fairly and impartially.
  • 州遗嘱认证法院: Financial transactions for estates passing through the probate system must comply with probate laws in the state in which the estate is held. 遗嘱法可能因州而异.  
  • 其他监管机构: Estates and trusts can include different kinds of assets including business ownership and investments, 每一种都需要遵守一个或多个监管机构. 信托持有的投资, 例如, 必须遵守美国证券交易委员会有关投资的法律, while the Department of Labor 监督s compliance with employee benefit plans that may be part of a business held by an estate.

偶尔,受托人也可能聘请服务专业人员,如会计师、会计师和会计师 投资顾问 或者找个律师帮你报税, 影响遗产或信托的投资或法律要求.

A comprehensive list of every possible financial transaction is difficult to put together given their complexity and the unique strategies that determine how each estate or trust is created and governed. 然而,下面列出了一些最常见的受托会计义务. 受托人必须:

  • track receipts for incoming funds and disbursements for outgoing funds with distinctions made between the principal and income
  • 追踪出售信托或地产资产的损益
  • 监督 估值 为信托或遗产执行的(以确定) 纳税义务 和报告要求)
  • 报告信托或遗产内的资产和负债
  • 记录受托人的补偿

遗产或信托产生的收入的例子, 这需要受托会计(和可能的报告? IRS表格1041)包括银行帐户的利息收入, 债券及其他有息投资, 从股票和共同基金获得的股息收入, 租金收入, 营业收入, 出售房地产资产所产生的资本利得(例如.g. 股票(增值投资)和特许权使用费.

类似的, many expenses must be reported including compensation for the fiduciary and professional service providers supporting the estate (such as those mentioned above), 还有遗嘱认证法庭的费用, 维持信托或遗产账户的经纪费用和银行费用. Estates and trusts must also report to the IRS any income generated by the principal assets, 对遗产的价值征收遗产税,对遗产所拥有的不动产征收遗产税. 最后, 在遗产或信托中持有的任何财产都可能需要维修和保养, 保险费或公用事业费用的支付, 哪些代表其他应报告的费用.

受托会计:个人或公司受托?

如上所述, a fiduciary responsible for the 信托或遗产-related accounting can be an individual or a corporate entity. 做选择时要考虑多种因素.

  • 个人信托

The benefits of choosing an individual are many including the individual fiduciary’s personal relationship with beneficiaries and understanding their needs and family dynamics. An individual fiduciary who already has a relationship with the beneficiaries also likely holds a degree of trust and may finally be able to fulfill their role in a less formal manner while also having the ability to accommodate the unique or specific requests of beneficiaries.

  • 公司的受托人

虽然这些好处可能很吸引人, consideration should also be given to the advantages brought to the fiduciary role by a corporate entity including the expertise available from an accounting or 投资顾问y firm. A firm that offers professional management of an estate or trust often provides a team with a deep and knowledgeable understanding of the accounting and compliance requirements for an estate or trust. They can help beneficiaries navigate the complexities of laws and regulations related to their holdings while avoiding the time-intensive need for research and reduce the risk of errors or omissions.

而与个人受托人的关系可能更为非正式, a corporate firm can provide complete objectivity in its role as fiduciary without concerns about perceived conflicts of interest. Firms that specialize in providing estate and trust accounting also often offer other areas of expertise such as tax planning, 财务规划 and 投资顾问y expertise or have relationships with other professional service providers who offer specialized areas of knowledge, 比如律师. 最后, corporate fiduciaries offer stability and continuous ongoing service that may not be available from an individual fiduciary.

总之

Fiduciary accounting is critical to effective trust and estate management and involves fully understanding the role of the fiduciary, careful reporting on a variety of financial transactions for multiple stakeholders and ensuring compliance with complex state and regulatory agencies. Choosing an effective and knowledgeable fiduciary is also important to ensure mistakes are avoided and all reporting is handled accurately. Be sure to understand all the considerations when selecting a fiduciary for your trust and estate; you have taken the time to consider the strategies for protecting your assets and making them available to your beneficiaries. 信托会计的有效管理同样重要.

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