Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia

Re: joint with survivorship bank account with deceased parent

It IS money transferred to you, and in that sense might look like income.

However, inheritance is NOT taxable income. It is an exception. (That is why there is an estate tax on very large amounts of inheritance.)

So the effect of rights of survivorship means that the money she had is transferred to you and is received by you as a sort of "income."

But inheritance is never taxed as income.

If the inheritance is very large, over several million dollars (the amount keeps changing), then THE ESTATE pays an estate tax before distributing money to the heirs. Technically the heirs do not pay (though it is a small distinction). The estate pays. That is the estate files the estate tax tax return. The heirs don't report it on their tax return. The estate reports it. (The tax gets taken off the top, so it still affects what the heirs get, of course.)

However, for only $13,000, there is no tax.

Re: joint with survivorship bank account with deceased parent

It IS money transferred to you, and in that sense might look like income.

However, inheritance is NOT taxable income. It is an exception. (That is why there is an estate tax on very large amounts of inheritance.)

So the effect of rights of survivorship means that the money she had is transferred to you and is received by you as a sort of "income."

But inheritance is never taxed as income.

If the inheritance is very large, over several million dollars (the amount keeps changing), then THE ESTATE pays an estate tax before distributing money to the heirs. Technically the heirs do not pay (though it is a small distinction). The estate pays. That is the estate files the estate tax tax return. The heirs don't report it on their tax return. The estate reports it. (The tax gets taken off the top, so it still affects what the heirs get, of course.)

However, for only $13,000, there is no tax.