Estates & Trust Administration
Fiduciary Accounting for Estates & Trusts
Serving as an executor, personal representative, or trustee carries legal responsibility and personal stress. Beneficiaries, probate courts, and attorneys require clear, verifiable records of every dollar received, spent, and distributed.
Black Hills Accounting provides specialized estate and trust accounting support. We sort through scattered historical records, digitize paper archives, reconstruct financial activity from date of death, and prepare formal fiduciary accountings ready for legal review and tax preparation.
Comprehensive Estate & Trust Support
Asset Inventories & Date-of-Death Valuations
Establish clean baseline records from day one:
- Documenting bank accounts, investments, real estate, and physical assets as of the date of death.
- Setting up dedicated estate or trust general ledgers with clean tracking of principal versus income.
- Reconciling historical bank statements and closing out prior decedent accounts.
Paper Digitization & Forensic Reconstructions
Turn boxes of statements and check registers into clean digital records:
- Scanning, OCR processing, and systematic sorting of physical statements, receipts, and tax records.
- Reconstructing months or years of missing financial activity when records are incomplete.
- Identifying outstanding creditor claims, funeral costs, and administrative expense reimbursements.
Formal Fiduciary Accountings & Tax Preparation
Reports formatted for court review, attorneys, and tax filings:
- Schedules of receipts, disbursements, gains/losses, and distributions for court-approved accountings.
- Seamless handoff to prepare the decedent's final Form 1040 income tax return.
- Preparation of Form 1041 fiduciary income tax returns and beneficiary Schedule K-1 forms.
Bring Order to Estate Records
Schedule a confidential 15-minute consultation to discuss estate or trust records, digitize paper archives, or establish clean fiduciary accounting.