@squidlady wrote:
Hello @Opus 17 and thank you for this information. I do indeed have an attorney in the state where Dad lived and will ask him these questions. I imagine TT will also ask the proper questions when I do both of our taxes next year. (His state does require probate, we are working on that now). Thank you so much.
Turbotax won't know whether you inherited the stocks at their full stepped up value or not, since that will depend on state law and how the account was titled.
Turbotax will ask the date you acquired the stock (the date your dad died), the method by which acquired (inheritance), the date of sale, the selling price, and the cost basis. This last item (cost basis) you will most likely need to provide yourself, based on your legal advice. (The broker might provide a figure, but it might not be correct.)
In the best case scenario for you, you inherited the shares at their full value on the date your father died. So it won't hurt to start gathering that information now. (There are various web sites that can give you stock prices for any given date.)
In the scenario where you were a co-owner, your cost basis will be a blend of the price your father paid, and the share price on the day he died. Hopefully not, but that's why you need to ask an attorney about how the account was titled. If it comes to that, we can explain how to calculate your adjusted basis in that scenario.
