My dad had a revocable trust brokerage account. Him and I were equal trustees. My wife was a successor trustee. He recently passed away. My brokerage company told me that the account is frozen until I provide them his death certificate and a TIN for the new irrevocable trust. The TIN will be for the newirrevocable trust where where my wife and I will be trustees.
I have the value of his brokerage account on the date he died. It will take several weeks to get the death certificate. If the value of his investments are higher when the brokerage firm changes it to a irrevocable trust, who is responsible to pay taxes on the capital gains? I plan on immediately liquidating the account and distributing the cash according to his Will.
Do the individuals in the Will have any tax liability or does the Trust have the tax liability on the gains? What happens if the value is lower when I close the Trust and distribute the cash according to his Will?
