# Foreign Estate/Trust Reporting



## KC262 (Jun 11, 2021)

Hi all,

I am new here and have some questions regarding a situation I find myself in.

I am a US resident and green card holder, and late last year ( Dec 2020), my mother, 
a lifelong UK citizen/resident passed away. I am to be a partial beneficiary of her estate 
along with my siblings. There is also a life insurance policy held in trust which is not 
considered part of her estate. I am a partial beneficiary of that also. There have been no 
distributions made as of yet from either the estate or the trust. However that is expected 
to happen this year.

I was named as an executor in her will, however I have since renounced, and under 
UK law could not and did not involve myself in any way with the affairs of her estate, 
as doing so would make me unable to renounce. I signed the form in January about 
5 weeks after she passed away. One of my questions is, even though I never took 
on the role of executor and in fact declined it, should I still report her accounts on
FBAR? The accounts btw, are definitely above the reporting threshold. I am uncertain 
about this. Is simply being given the right to act enough to trigger the reporting requirement? 
As far as I know none of the financial institutions where her accounts are held have me in 
their records as someone who could have any authority over the accounts. 

This leads me now to another question. If I am required to report the accounts, then
where exactly on the FBAR do they go? Under signature authority only, or would I be 
considered an owner? I do of course have an interest in her estate as a beneficiary but 
not more than 50%. I mention this because in a past year I received an inheritance from 
another UK relative and was advised I had no FBAR filing requirement as in any case I did 
not have a greater than 50% interest in the estate, and the money was wired directly to my 
US account at the time it was made available to me. In this instance I had no involvement, 
potential or otherwise as an executor.

As for any other forms, would there be any filing requirement for 2020? It is my understanding 
that the 3520 will only come into play for this year, ( to be filed next year), when I actually 
receive any distributions. However what about the 8938? I have read the instructions and I 
don't see any reporting needed for 2020.  I definitely did not know at the end of last year, and 
in fact still do not know the exact amount of my interest in either the estate or life insurance 
trust. I have recently been given estimates but am told these will likely change as they are still 
sorting out taxes etc. In any case the amounts I am expecting to receive will be above the 
reporting thresholds for both forms.

Honestly, all of this international reporting seems somewhat confusing to me, and is causing
me a great deal of anxiety as I know getting it wrong could be potentially disastrous! 
Any opinions or guidance in this matter would be very welcome.

Thanks.


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## 255 (Sep 8, 2018)

KC262 -- If you declined to become the executor, you have no authority over administration of your mother's estate, hence no reporting requirement, on your part, at all (If you did accept the position of executor, with signature authority over the accounts in your mother's estate, you would have an FBAR reporting responsibility.

As far s 8938, or any other IRS form, the assets in the estate are not yours (yet,) so no reporting requirement. Once the assets are distributed, and you become the owner, you may have additional reporting requirements, depending on how you hold the inherited property. Cheers, 255


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