[WSBAPT] WA Estate Tax Determination - Inclusion or Exclusion of Bank Account

[Matt Yates]

I have a probate action where PR is deferring to accountant about determination of WA Estate Tax but there is an issue as to whether to include the bank account decedent had with Decedent's Brother ("Brother").  I am trying to get PR to get appropriate information from bank as to how account was "owned" but accountant is convinced that Decedent co-owned account with Brother and, therefore, it was a gift to Brother.  Said another way, it appears that accountant is trying to distinguish this account from a typical survivor or beneficiary designated account and declare it as a gift to get it out of the estate.  I did contact WA Dept of Revenue and the representative I spoke to says that the Dept considers who deposited the money in the account to determine whether it is part of the estate (i.e. if Decedent deposited most or all, it is part of the estate).

Accordingly, I have a few questions.

  1.  Has anyone run into a scenario accountant wants to says exists where a co-owned (this actually has yet to be determined) bank account was considered a gift rather than a beneficiary designated account/survivor account and thereby excluded from the estate for purposes of determining value of estate and corresponding estate tax?  If so, what were the indicators that Dept accepted to demonstrate gift, if any?
  2.  Given how the Dept lists its rulings on its website (nondescript volumes), does anyone know of an applicable ruling?

Thanks and I'll continue to try to balance research with PR concerns about overdoing it.
Matt

Matthew D. Yates
Attorney at Law
Yates Marshall, PLLC
10000 NE 7th Avenue, Suite 200
Vancouver, WA 98685
Phone: (360) 449-6100
Fax: (360) 449-6111
matt at yatesmarshall.com<mailto:matt at yatesmarshall.com> (New Email Address)
www.yatesmarshall.com

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