Oh about $25k worth. What happened was my mom put her house into a Living Trust. When she passed away, I set the paperwork up (actually paid an attorney to get this done) to put the property into my name. Well the attorney apparently never filed the papers, so the house is still in the name of the trust and I’m still paying her property taxes which were based the property’s value in 1979 (about 20% of the value when I inherited the property). So I was advised by an attorney yesterday that I still owe the rest of the taxes because the property should be in my name now (OOPS). The good news is that because I’m her child, I can also inherit the old assessment and once I get the paperwork straightened out, I shouldn’t have to owe anything (at least I hope not, I don’t really have $25k!!).
So just a story to show that sometimes you end up owing taxes that you don’t realize you owe. This wasn’t intentional but I bet I’d have a hard time explaining that to the Assessor’s office.
If the property is still in the trust’s name, shouldn’t the trust be responsible for the taxes (and not the trustee)? I wouldn’t think the terms of a trust are legally binding just because it says so, without proper filings and actions by the trustee. Otherwise I’m about to establish a trust involving Jessica Alba and various “action items”.
LOL aside, I’d consult a family law attorney (estates, trusts, etc) and see if this holds any water at all. Trusts are distinct legal actors for a reason.
Wait, is this a thread to give Lorini tax advice or is this a thread about how easy it is for a normal conscientious person to have a huge tax liability they didn’t know about?
I’m no attorney, but I don’t understand. If the property was not in your name - whether it “should” have been or not - how are you accountable for the taxes when it was not in your name?
And yeah, you were SO in line to be Daschel’s replacement, and now you go and blow it. Sheesh.
That’s what I thought too, but all the responses were going the other way so I started wondering if my tenuous grasp on sanity was finally starting to slip. Also, the taco I ate for lunch recommended I seek help, but frankly I think it was biased.
I’ve been audited twice. Once for failure to file!!! It was this one that drew the bullseye on my head for every return since, and led to the second audit for something minor that was taken care of by my accountant.
In both cases I knew all about what went on, and I knew I owed tax. In both cases I quickly paid and took care of the issue once found. So yeah, I can believe people have had issues, what I don’t believe is when they say things like “I don’t know how this happened.” That part I have a hard time understanding. I’m not referring to Lorini here, but the guys who sat in front of media recently claiming they didn’t know.
