I was included in my Dad’s Will as a beneficiary of his Estate and was also named by him to be the Executor of his Estate.
At the time of his death, I was a Joint Owner with Right of Survivorship to one of his bank accounts. One of the other beneficiaries to his Estate filed a Petition with the Court contesting the survivorship provision of this Joint Ownership Account. I decided to enter into a Family Settlement Agreement rather than a protracted process to resolve this issue.
Under the Family Settlement Agreement I personally paid some of the beneficiaries a certain sum. The Family Settlement Agreement also stipulated that the bank account being questioned was, in fact, a Joint Account with Survivorship to me.
Since I PERSONALLY paid an amount in settlement, how do I go about claiming this as a deduction on my personal income taxes.
