[WSBAPT] Joint annuity and estate tax

[Diane J. Kiepe]

The Will provision of 90 days cannot trump the contractual terms for the annuity.  Without reading the contract, my guess is that it became 100% part of the wife's estate.


Diane J. Kiepe
Douglas Eden, P.S.
717 W. Sprague Ave., Suite 1500
Spokane, WA  99201
djkiepe at depdslaw.com<mailto:djkiepe at depdslaw.com>
509-455-5300
Please note that I will be out of the office from the afternoon of December 4, 2023 until approximately December 18, 2023 for medical reasons, with little to no email for the initial few days.  If you need immediate assistance, please call 509-455-5300 and ask for Sandy Saty or Anita Anderson.  Thank you for your patience during this time.

KINDLY ALLOW 2-4 WORKING DAYS TO RECEIVE A RESPONSE TO NON-URGENT EMAILS.  FEEL FREE TO SEND YOUR EMAIL (OR RESEND YOUR EMAIL AS THE CASE MAY BE) MARKED URGENT IN THE SUBJECT LINE.


DISCLAIMER: the preceding message and any attachments may contain confidential information protected by law, the attorney-client privilege or other privilege.  This communication is intended to be private and may not be recorded or copied without the consent of the author.  If you believe this message has been sent in error, REPLY to sender and then DELETE this message.  Thank you.



From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Timothy Lehr
Sent: Wednesday, December 6, 2023 1:52 PM
To: wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com
Subject: [WSBAPT] Joint annuity and estate tax

All,

My partner in my firm has a probate/estate tax issue he is looking for guidance on:

Husband and Wife have annuity in both their names.   It appears that it was JTWROS although getting the verifying information from the annuity company has not been easy.    They both had wills that leaves everything to each other (provided the spouse survives by 90 days) and then to the same list of heirs.
Husband passes on 2/4/23.  Wife passes on 3/9/23.  Wife did not place the annuity into her sole name prior to her passing, nor access any of the funds therein.    There was no contingent beneficiary for the annuity.     Probate was started for both H & W of which the annuity is a probate asset.
The issue for estate tax purposes, is whether the annuity is to be split 50/50 between each estate, or is the entire value of the annuity is 100% under the wife's estate - especially in light of the "survive by 90 days" language in Husband's Will.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Tim


Timothy C. Lehr
Attorney & Partner

[cid:image001.jpg at 01DA28FF.90E9E4B0]

p:   360.855.0131
e:   timothy at stileslaw.com<mailto:timothy at stileslaw.com>
w:  www.stileslaw.com<http://www.stileslaw.com/>

NOTICE: The information contained in this email is proprietary and/or confidential and may be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, you are hereby notified to : (i) delete the email and all copies; (ii) not disclose, distribute or use the email in any manner; (iii) notify the sender immediately. Thank you.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20231207/b6a371f4/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 5093 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20231207/b6a371f4/image001.jpg>