What records are needed to prepare a federal estate tax return?

Documents that accompany the return

The IRS says the death certificate must accompany Form 706. For a U.S. citizen or resident decedent who died testate, a certified copy of the will is required.

If the decedent ever held a power of appointment, certified copies of the granting instrument and of the exercising or releasing instrument must be filed. That applies even if the executor contends the power was not a general power.

Lifetime transfers and prior gift returns

All lifetime transfers other than outright non-trust transfers and bona fide sales must be reported on Schedule G of Form 706, whether or not the preparer thinks they are taxable.

Executors must make a reasonable effort to discover any gifts above the annual exclusion that the decedent made, or that were made on the decedent's behalf under a power of attorney, for which no Form 709 was filed.

A taxpayer who does not know which years a gift tax return was filed can send the IRS a written request for a gift tax account record.

When there is no probate and a trustee controls the estate, the IRS requires a no-probate statement and either a Certificate of Trust or the full trust instrument to obtain a gift tax account record or return.

Entries that carry a statement under oath

Entering zero for any of Part V items 1 through 9 of Form 706 is the executor's statement, under penalties of perjury, that the gross estate contains no includible assets of that type.

Core administration records

A New Jersey estate administration checklist requests core records that include the will, death certificates, property records, tax returns, accounts, insurance and beneficiary information.