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Lock the doors when all of Congress is in session, and do not allow anyone to leave until all of them have prepared their own tax returns by hand. And, maybe, wait until the IRS processes them, too!

IMO the costs to engage someone to prepare (and follow through) an OIC far outweigh the amount of remaining tax due. The other options should be pursued.

Your suggested % goes down each year. I would think she should ask for a larger % each year. Although, I'd favor a salary based on her years of experience & credentials & skills. Maybe $60/hour with a guaranteed # of hours each year.

I will look at this but my recommendation to the executor was for the family to pay up. They got the money. The executor has mentioned that the sibling recipients just may have to cough up the money. I noted again that the balance due is not that great, about $2100 or so. Whatever the cost of trying to finagle a delay or compromise, etc., the money is still owed, these folks had the use of it for over a year. Had there been planning, withholdings would have been appropriate and the shares would have been less by that much.

Not sure IRS would be interested in the OIC since the Federal government can go against the fiduciaries under R.S. 3466 and 3467. You might want to have a look at Fiduciary Liability Under the Federal Priority Statutes (duke.edu). Just saying.

I believe the filing fee for an OIC has increased to $205 for the IRS. Then any available funds have to be used to pay as much as the IRS thinks is collectible towards the tax. I suspect if the kiddos got the money from grandma, the IRS is going to look at whether they can pay the taxes in determining how much the offer can be, and so they will wind up paying the taxes anyway. I am not sure about that - I have never done an offer in these circumstances. Then there is the fee for someone to prepare the offer unless they are willing to do it themselves. I don't have any idea how organized they would be as far as getting the numbers together, and I have always charged by the hour for an OIC. I can't imagine it would be less than 2 or 3 hours, even if they do most of the heavy lifting by giving you everything you need in an organized manner. Someone more familiar with offers will hopefully chime in - they might be faster at preparing them than I am.

Disengage unless very profitable and paid in advance. Especially if this area of practice is not your norm. Your post shows the heirs are not cooperative, and that the estate is upside down already.

Where'd all the money go? Follow the money. Did the "kids" take the money before paying all the bills? If they won't pay the IRS, do you really think they'll pay you? Huge retainer or disengage!

Congratulations!

I am envious. I would love to be able to work for someone else doing just taxes from late January through April, and then leave the bookkeeping and payroll issues to someone else the rest of the year. Congratulations, Possi!

Congratulations! I hope the arrangement you settle on works well for you.

The best one I have seen is 30, 35, 45. 110% of annual billing, but the best year encourages you to help the buyer with retention. The vast majority I've seen though, is 100% annual billing over a 3 year spread. Enjoy! (Seriously considering it myself.)