My mother recently passed away and has very little in the checking
account to cover final expenses such as the funeral, credit card
bills, medical bills, utilities and insurance on the house until the
sale, legal fees etc...

HOWEVER, there is a significant amount in an IRA and in equity of the home.

The IRA had no beneficiaries listed, however the will stated, "Final
expenses will be paid by the estate.  I bequeath XX% of the IRA to
this person, and XX% to that person.  I bequeath the house to this
person..."

My question is, is there any way to tap into the IRA money prior to
the settlement of the estate (and subsequent distribution of the IRA
to the heirs) to cover these expenses?

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Clarification of Question by boilerette-ga on 14 Apr 2006 11:30 PDT

BTW, there is no life insurance.

Where do you live?  If it is the US, which State?

Also, note Important Disclaimer at bottom of this page re tax and
legal advice.  It might be best to consult a local attorney.

Note the disclaimer.  
It is probably not possible to tap into the IRA prior to settlement of
the estate, but it should be no problem to have receipted expenses for
the funeral reimbursed, probably ditto for other unpaid expenses, but
an attorney can tell you immediately.

This is a very difficult question involving trust and estate law, as
well as tax law.  Based on the facts its difficult to even begin to
give a good answer.  I highly recommend you ask around and find a good
CPA to address the tax issues, and they should be able to refer you to
someone that could look at any potential estate issues.

If you have a fairly good credit rating, a bank or local credit union
will probably give you a loan until the estate money comes through. 
You should also be checking with the company that is holding the IRA
money to find out their timetable for paying the money to the estate
and if there will be any complications or not.

4KEITH (I'm NOT a GOOGLE Researcher)
Accountant

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