Submitted By: Marcella
Answered: September 2, 2016 12:21 pm

My husband died and I had large legal fees to settle his estate. Are the legal fees deductible?

Legal fees paid by an estate are deductible by the estate for estate tax purposes. If you paid the fees out of your own pocket, the estate can reimburse you. If you don’t seek reimbursement, you will be out of luck; the legal fees aren’t deductible on your personal income tax return.

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Tax Glossary

Accrual method of accounting

A business method of accounting requiring income to be reported when earned and expenses to be deducted when incurred. However, deductions generally may not be claimed until economic performance has occurred.

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