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Question 1
Karen owns an apartment building in Boulder, CO. The apartments are old and need a lot of repairs. Since she does not want to invest a lot of money into fixing up the units, she rents them out to low income tenants, as part of the Section 8 program. During the time Karen has owned the property, the vacant land near her property has sold for millions of dollars. In fact, there is a local developer who wants to buy her building and replace it with a shopping center. Currently, the building is worth $250,000. If it were a shopping center, it would be valued at $2,250,000. Karen recently died unexpectedly; her will left the apartment building to her son, Kenny. He never liked the idea of being a landlord, so he sold the building to the developer and pocketed $2,000,000.
Correct
Incorrect!
Correct
Incorrect!
Correct Treasury regulations specify that property is valued at its highest and best use, regardless of the actual use. There is an exception to this general rule for property used for farming or in a trade or business. Here, the apartment building is being used in a trade or business. As such, it meets the exception and should be valued at its actual use, which is $250,000.
Incorrect! Treasury regulations specify that property is valued at its highest and best use, regardless of the actual use. There is an exception to this general rule for property used for farming or in a trade or business. Here, the apartment building is being used in a trade or business. As such, it meets the exception and should be valued at its actual use, which is $250,000.
Question 2
At the time of Luther's death on June 10, 2017, he owned 1,000 shares of a dividend paying stock. The next dividend payment date is July 1, 2017, for owners of record as of June 1, 2017. Luther's estate is entitled to the July 1 dividend.
Correct If a decedent dies on or after the record date but before the payment date of a dividend, the dividend is includable in the estate as a separate asset. Here, Luther died after the June 1 record date, but before the July 1 payment date. Accordingly, his estate is entitled to the dividend and it would be included in his gross estate amount.
Incorrect! If a decedent dies on or after the record date but before the payment date of a dividend, the dividend is includable in the estate as a separate asset. Here, Luther died after the June 1 record date, but before the July 1 payment date. Accordingly, his estate is entitled to the dividend and it would be included in his gross estate amount.
Correct
Incorrect!
Question 3
Leroy owned several certificates of deposit (CDs) at Bank One when he died in February 2016. The maturity dates were staggered as follows: (1) $5,000 matured on June 1, 2016; (2) $10,000 matured on October 1, 2016; and (3) $5,000 matured on January 1, 2017. His will left the accounts to his sister, Eloise. She took possession of the money on November 1, 2016, closed the accounts and transferred the money to her account at Citibank. Bank One's CD contract states that all interest is forfeited if the account is closed before its maturity. Also, the CDs were not automatically rolled over. Instead, the owner had to affirmatively notify the bank that he or she wanted to roll over the money. Rather, the money is transferred to the person's non-interest bearing checking account.
Correct
Incorrect!
Correct For interest bearing accounts, the includable interest amount would depend on whether the decedent is still entitled to the interest or not. Here, Bank One's policy is that an account holder is only entitled to the interest if the account remains open through its maturity date. Only CDs (1) and (2) remained open through their respective maturity dates; therefore, that interest is included in Leroy's gross estate.
Incorrect! For interest bearing accounts, the includable interest amount would depend on whether the decedent is still entitled to the interest or not. Here, Bank One's policy is that an account holder is only entitled to the interest if the account remains open through its maturity date. Only CDs (1) and (2) remained open through their respective maturity dates; therefore, that interest is included in Leroy's gross estate.
Correct
Incorrect!
Question 4
Collette owned two insurance policies, one had a face amount of $10,000; the other had a face amount of $20,000. Initially, the beneficiary on both policies was her late husband, Jodi. She never updated the beneficiary designation on the first policy after he died. Since the second policy was through her job, she added her sister, Rachel, as the new beneficiary. Collette died two weeks ago and is survived by her sister, Rachel.
Correct
Incorrect!
Correct
Incorrect!
Correct Life insurance proceeds are included in the decedent's estate if the estate is the beneficiary or the decedent possessed any incidents of ownership in the policy. Here, the $10,000 policy did not have a beneficiary designation. Accordingly, the proceeds will be paid to her estate. The $20,000 policy's proceeds will be paid to her sister, Rachel. So, that amount is not included in Collette's estate.
Incorrect! Life insurance proceeds are included in the decedent's estate if the estate is the beneficiary or the decedent possessed any incidents of ownership in the policy. Here, the $10,000 policy did not have a beneficiary designation. Accordingly, the proceeds will be paid to her estate. The $20,000 policy's proceeds will be paid to her sister, Rachel. So, that amount is not included in Collette's estate.
Question 5
Ten years ago, Burton and his wife, Toni, bought a home in Vermont, near a ski resort. The home cost $320,000. The house was recently appraised for $620,000. During the winter, Burton, Toni and their two daughters spent a lot of time on the ski slopes near their home. Over the President's Day holiday of 2017, Toni was killed in a skiing accident.
Correct
Incorrect!
Correct
Incorrect!
Correct Ordinarily the full value of any property owned by the decedent as a joint tenant with a right of survivorship is includable in the decedent's estate. However, if the joint interest can be classified as a 'qualified joint interest' (applicable to spouses), only one-half of the value of the jointly owned asset will be included in the gross estate of the first joint tenant to die. Here, since Burton and Toni were married, their home qualifies under this rule. As such, only one-half of the $620,000 value would be included in Toni's estate.
Incorrect! Ordinarily the full value of any property owned by the decedent as a joint tenant with a right of survivorship is includable in the decedent's estate. However, if the joint interest can be classified as a 'qualified joint interest' (applicable to spouses), only one-half of the value of the jointly owned asset will be included in the gross estate of the first joint tenant to die. Here, since Burton and Toni were married, their home qualifies under this rule. As such, only one-half of the $620,000 value would be included in Toni's estate.
Correct
Incorrect!
Question 6
Ten years ago, Burton and his wife, Toni, bought a home in Vermont, near a ski resort. The home cost $320,000. During the winter, Burton, Toni and their two daughters spent a lot of time on the ski slopes near their home. Over the President's Day holiday of 2017, Toni was killed in a skiing accident. Due to the grief over his wife's untimely death, he no longer wanted to live in the home. Accordingly, he sold the home for $600,000 and moved with his kids to Maine.
Correct
Incorrect!
Correct
Incorrect!
Correct
Incorrect!
Correct Since this home is a 'qualified joint interest,' only one-half of the value is included in Toni's estate. Due to the unlimited marital deduction, there will be no estate tax due on the transfer to Burton. Nevertheless, the basis of the property will only receive a step up in value for Toni's one-half interest that was included in her estate. His one-half interest will keep the original basis. So, the new blended basis of the home will be $460,000 (($600,000/2) + ($320,000/2)).
Incorrect! Since this home is a 'qualified joint interest,' only one-half of the value is included in Toni's estate. Due to the unlimited marital deduction, there will be no estate tax due on the transfer to Burton. Nevertheless, the basis of the property will only receive a step up in value for Toni's one-half interest that was included in her estate. His one-half interest will keep the original basis. So, the new blended basis of the home will be $460,000 (($600,000/2) + ($320,000/2)).
Question 7
Over a 35-year career, Dean became very wealthy from establishing several businesses in New Hampshire. His wife, Judy, was a successful orthodontist. Since they had two young children at the time, they both purchased life insurance policies on themselves, naming the other as the beneficiary. Now that the children are grown, Dean transferred ownership in his policy to his business partner, Edward. Two years after that transfer, Dean died in a plane crash. The proceeds of the policy will be included in Dean's estate.
Correct If a decedent transfers a life insurance policy to someone else within three years of his death, the proceeds will still be included in the decedent's estate. Here, Dean transferred the policy to Edward two years before his death. As such, the proceeds will be included in Dean's estate.
Incorrect! If a decedent transfers a life insurance policy to someone else within three years of his death, the proceeds will still be included in the decedent's estate. Here, Dean transferred the policy to Edward two years before his death. As such, the proceeds will be included in Dean's estate.