Capital gains laws could change in '08 so the rush may be to get in under the wire at current rates.

Would capital gains or inheritance tax be more relevant?

Estate tax would already be paid at the time it was placed in trust (depending on when she died, there may not have been any estate tax). You'll only be dealing with CG on the distribution....may be paid by you or the trustee depending on how its set up.

In any event currently CG tax is 15%.

My grandfather was a banker. He liked stocks. He personally handled 30% of his portfolio. As a game, really. He enjoyed beating the piss out of the brokers who handled the 70%. I think he tended to average something like 35% ROA. He stuck to stocks he understood, like banking stocks. There has been a LOT of purchasing of smaller local banks by the big banks. After deregulation allowed insterstate banking, etc. They needed existing (banking) retail outlets. It won't surprise me if you end up with more money than you are expecting.

send me your ssn. I'll tidy this whole mess up real quick like.

I'm only getting $0.23 after tax. That is my expectation.

Any more than that is a pleasant surprise.

I will forgo a pack of Chiclets (with tax) if my expectation is not met.

Great story!

Invest in what you know. (And I mean really know.)

So.....legion.....friend......got plans for that money?

I know a guy in Seattle who could REALLY use a bottle of single malt. :)

That beats my $0.23! ;)

A friend of mine's 80 year old mother got a call like this....Was from a firm in SLC that said they tracked down heirs for a fee and would go not further until she signed papers giving them 1/3 of the proceeds. My friend thought he mother was being scammed and checked this firm out and found them to be legit......It's a long story, but in the end, she agreed, found a uncle had left her over 1/4 Mil and she got a check for $186,000. Good story......

Congrats. This could turn out the 'barn find' of the year, as it were. :)

oh great,

First you get snow

And now this!!

It's getting really tough to like you...................

I hope it's enough to treat you and the wifey to dinner at least.

You can have all of the rain were supposed to have this weekend...

I found money for family members on this site before. http://scoweb.sco.ca.gov/UCP/

A friend of mine got a similar phone call about some stock that had gone through several mergers and somehow got lost. A broker called my friend saying they had found that she was due $200K and would take a 25% commission as a finder's fee. My friend did her own research, called her stock broker and found the stock in question and got her 200k commission free. I would have fired my broker at the same time for not keeping up with my assets.

I wish I had such problems.

So, Wayne...YOU'RE the reason we'll never have a balanced budget:D

Hoot! Cindy is an oil lease heiress. Her grandfather, who had 6 children, all of whom had children, bought 1% of an oil well. It's capped now, but there IS black gold down there. She gets a check in the mail every few months. IIRC, the last check was $62...

hope it works out well for you. Can you keep the 951?

Speedy:)

Lol... My grandmother split her mineral rights on a piece of land four ways(her and three kids) a while back anyways my dad and his sisters get a check in the mail occasionally for about a $1.50. I think the worst was 5 cents one time... Dad was like why did they waste the stamp.

Not with $0.23! ;)