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Now What Do I Do?


Dave T

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I've never encountered this before so I would appreciate your input.

I have an elderly woman client who I've worked with for several years. She informed me when we me that her 62 year old son was very ill ( cancer ) and wasn't sure how much longer he would live.

Soon thereafter I received a call from this man's brother concerned that his brother, due to his condition, hadn't prepared his taxes and would I be willing to do so? I said I would but due to the lateness of the season I would probably need to file an extension which he was fine with ( he said he would pay my fee as well ).

I met with the man and his wife, got their documents, and filed the extension. I began working on the return several days later and encountered some items that I needed follow up information on, basis of a stock transaction, as well as some of his business records as what he had provided didn't make a lot of sense.

This morning I called and left him a message about getting together to discus these and shortly thereafter I contacted the out of state brother to let him know how things were progressing.

He just emailed me thanking me for taking care of this but also to let me know his brother passed away this morning.

I'm not exactly sure how to proceed at his point. I believe his wife will be able to assist with some of the easier questions but not so sure about the business aspect.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

Dave T

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I also have a new client, elderly father of a friend. Have his materials but had not started working on his return and had told them I'd file an extension to have time to review his prior year returns before starting 2013. He died last week. Daughter is mourning, so I'll e-file extensions now and speak with her next month. Does that seem right? Dad recently moved in with daughter, so she doesn't know that much about his finances. Is it Scarlet that says, "I'll worry about that tomorrow!"?

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File extensions, send a sympathy card, and include a note that you will contact them in a month or six weeks to finish up.

Agreed! When you do meet with them, be sure to have a sign or a card that says...

"Failure to plan on your Father's part, does not create responsibilities on my part."

Do the best you can and let the coins fall where they do. You can't fix all the financially irresponsible actions of your clients or their families.

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I agree, it's really all you can do. You will eventually have to do the best you can, even if you have to use 'best estimate' on parts. But for now, extension. But no on Jack's note, no need to create extra stress on the grieving family.

I am totally weary of people (new clients?) expecting me to clean up multi-year messes created by completely irresponsible actions of grown adults for years. Especially after the passing of a relative. Just call me "...once too often taken advantage of for being a nice guy trying to help...."

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I am totally weary of people (new clients?) expecting me to clean up multi-year messes created by completely irresponsible actions of grown adults for years. Especially after the passing of a relative. Just call me "...once too often taken advantage of for being a nice guy trying to help...."

Sure Jack, we all [i am guessing] feel the desire to say that to some clients, now and then. Just not a 'nice' thing to do at the point where they just lost a loved one. And I would never suggest that the situation should cause anyone to let the client 'take advantage'. Full charge for the work, by all means.

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