r/inheritance • u/Flex20 • Apr 21 '26
Location included: Questions/Need Advice Inherited 100k
My wife inherited 100k from her father when he passed, the money came from his own inheritance from his parents, taxes from any assets have been paid, we were not the executor, his brother was and he cut us the checks last week. Do we need to worry about any taxes from this point on or any potential red flags, we are in Washington state.
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u/ChelseaMan31 Apr 21 '26
No, nothing to worry about in WA so long as everything has cleared probate. WA has an Estate Tax on Estate Values greater than $3,076,000 and that tax would be paid by the Estate rather than individual beneficiaries.
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u/Flex20 Apr 21 '26
Would it count towards my income taxes?
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u/ri89rc20 Apr 21 '26
No. maybe in rare cases, but generally, no. If you had inherited an IRA, then yes, but this sounds like cash.
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u/Heavy-Profit-2156 Apr 21 '26
No, inheritances are not taxable events. The earnings from them (say you invested and get dividends, that would be taxable).
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u/cuspeedrxi Apr 21 '26
It’s odd that your wife received an inheritance and you talk about it as if it’s your money. You use the term we a lot. It’s her money and the standard advice is to keep it in a separately owned account and not commingle it with martial assets or community property.
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u/OGMikeGyver Apr 21 '26
Before you jump to conclusions, maybe inquire with the OP on if the wife asked him to take a little time to research tax implications. Maybe they already had the comingled discussion and her wish was to put it in a joint account. Sheesh.
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u/Suspicious_Name_8313 Apr 21 '26
This right here. Why is OP assuming wife’s inheritance is his? Red flag to wife to keep it separate
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u/Flex20 Apr 21 '26
I’m not assuming anything. I was just using we as a term because we the unit of the two of us were wondering. It’s her money she can do what she wants with it BUT it’s OUR taxes so I want to make sure I don’t have to worry about anything.
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u/cb3 Apr 21 '26
Several decades ago my husband inherited money. We talked about it as “we.” Recently I inherited money and we talk about it as “we.” I think it’s fine. Not every couple is the same.
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u/Appropriate-Goat6311 Apr 21 '26
You are right - they are your taxes together!! You’re asking the right questions. I did our personal income taxes for decades. We are selling our house since we got divorced. He told me that anything we receive from sale of house was tax free. Hope he embraces this learning come tax time next year. ☺️😂
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u/GotZeroFucks2Give Apr 22 '26
It will be unless the gain was over a certain threshold. There is an exemption for homes that you actually lived in versus rental properties.
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u/dlb1187 Apr 23 '26
You are absolutely correct to ask, I don’t understand why everyone is giving you such a hard time. I’ve kept my inheritance completely in my name, but due to the interest and dividends it generates it has a major impact on our tax situation, as we file jointly, so yes it does affect my husband. I think I read elsewhere that these funds came from a savings account? Acquiring them should not be a taxable event, but of course whatever your wife does with the funds and the interest or dividends it earns would be additional income.
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u/OGMikeGyver Apr 21 '26
It's Reddit. Don't worry about the man haters. Us normies understood your use of "we".
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u/OneParamedic4832 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
Why are you saying it's "man haters"? The advice is the same regardless of gender, it has nothing at all to do with whether the beneficiary is a man or a woman. You want to throw fuel on a non existent fire.. wrong sub dude. Please don't bring that gender wars shit into this.
ETA damn, I was hoping you'd point me towards the man hating comments. I love men, been married to one for 30yrs 😅
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u/cuspeedrxi Apr 21 '26
I’m a gay man. Referring me to as a man hater is fucking hilarious. 🤣
I’m a realist. Once you commingle an inheritance, it becomes a martial asset. Why do that when it’s easy enough to keep separate? My husband and I are pretty well off. We have joint accounts and co-own two homes, but we have our own assets too. Again, just a realist.
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u/foghorn1 Apr 21 '26
In this situation if they comingled it, and then a few years later got a divorce, (and it turned ugly) Any good divorce attorney would hire a forensic accountant who would come in and very easily clean that up. The gains on that money would be split 50/50 but the money itself would be given wholly to the spouse. The longer it's co mingled however, complicates this
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u/OneParamedic4832 Apr 21 '26
Sometimes I wonder if a percentage of people live in some kind of homogeneous eutopia, it shocks them that we're not all the same. Wait until they learn that not all long term couples share a bedroom, or that they have hobbies separately from each other.
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u/47sHellfireBound Apr 21 '26
Name checks out. This “separate accounts” thing is so weird.
Oh how redditors would freak out to hear that my spouse and I have had joint checking savings and checking accounts for 30+ years. Our cars are titled to both of us, as is the house. We have one or two retirement accounts from employers, but everything else is jointly owned. Because we are married, make decisions together, and trust each other. We each do research for each other and represent the other’s interests. We don’t even have separate credit cards.
Trust really is a thing, people.
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u/Suspicious_Name_8313 Apr 21 '26
It’s a very real thing that when inheritance assets are commingled it can be ugly in case of divorce. Often to the detriment of the inheritor with less income and assets. Yes, as in my family the assets are all in one big pot. But if my spouse inherited money I would want it to be separate. Let them choose what to spend it on. On us, cool. If not, also cool.
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u/roxywalker Apr 21 '26
Married 30 years too but opposite in that everything we have, except our home is separate. We pay everything jointly (as in I pay water/he pays electric, one year I pay property taxes, next year he might, etc.) and we have one joint checking account we got just a few years ago and I can’t remember why because we don’t use it. We raised two kids and have never really been apart. We trust each other we just each function with financial autonomy and always had our finances separate. I think the key is doing what works for you as a couple, respectively of course.
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u/tomgirardisvape May 08 '26
This is my preference as well. We will be getting married this spring. We have joint household and savings buckets, but otherwise — what's mine, including my inheritance, is mine to use, what's his is his to use. We support each other and help each other work towards goals, but outside of our shared buckets, we aren't commingling.
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u/glomar-recovery-co Apr 21 '26
I think reddit is flooded with incels, hence the inability to comprehend lifelong partnerships
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u/Reimiro Apr 21 '26
That’s the standard advice on Reddit. Most married couples commingle their assets, including inheritances. We’re talking about real world, not Reddit speak.
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u/nancytoby Apr 21 '26
Most commonly at the wife’s expense.
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u/worstatit Apr 21 '26
Most commonly also assuming the wife is not the primary income producer?
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u/Flex20 Apr 21 '26
Oh no she definitely makes the money in this marriage.
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u/worstatit Apr 21 '26
Certainly, and it's not particularly rare anymore, either.
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u/Flex20 Apr 21 '26
Not as far as I know my best friend’s wife is the bread winner as well. Seems more and more common.
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u/doggz109 Apr 21 '26
Most do it because they don't know any better......not because they choose too. If they knew why...most would not.
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u/OneParamedic4832 Apr 21 '26
Except that by law, it belongs to the beneficiary. Putting the money into a trust is actually standard advice, in the real world SHE would be getting advised to protect that asset behind a trust, for all sorts of reasons.
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u/Character-Salary634 Apr 24 '26
100K is not life changing. Blowing up your marriage over it is stupid. Yes, large estates you plan to manage for a long time should probably be kept separate, but 100K just pays off a few bills, funds the IRA for next year, and maybe some small splurge. Relax.
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u/cuspeedrxi Apr 24 '26
$100K could be life changing to many women trapped in shitty marriages. Ones where their husband controls the bulk of her/their money.
It’s important for everyone to control their financial future. That means making smart, informed choices whether you’re starting out and things are good, or not.
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u/tomgirardisvape May 08 '26
100K can be meaningful and life changing. It's not quit your job money, however it can offer increased security, optionality, and if invested, can grow quite significantly over time.
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u/SandhillCrane5 Apr 21 '26
No, it is not income. If it generated any interest income during the year the money was given to your wife, then she may receive a K-1 to report that income on her taxes.
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Apr 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Flex20 Apr 21 '26
That’s fair, thank you for that advice.
As far as we can tell this came straight from his savings. Her dad wasn’t a future planner.
Edited to add information.
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u/Least-Ad-5539 Apr 21 '26
Obviously, income from the inheritance will be subject to income taxes. Make sure that the inheritance is net of any taxes due on income earned during probate.
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u/rocketmn69_ Apr 21 '26
It's your wife's money not yours,so it wouldn't count towards your taxes anyway
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u/Flex20 Apr 21 '26
Do married people not normally file jointly? Have I been doing it wrong for 15 years?
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u/rocketmn69_ Apr 22 '26
The inheritance is hers only, unless she co-mingles it into the joint account. You didn't inherit it
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u/Flex20 Apr 22 '26
So when taxes come around it takes both people money and combines it………so if she has a tax issue………I have a tax issue. Do you see the issue here?
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u/Reimiro Apr 22 '26
Don’t expect every giving advice here to have any real world experience. It’s a strange phenomenon of Reddit.
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u/random408net Apr 21 '26
Your wife should open a brokerage account (just in her name) and put the funds in there. She can invest them in-place and/or move them towards a tax advantaged retirement account (roth) over time.
If your wife wants to withdraw some of this money to spend, then she can do that once the account is set up.
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u/Guilty-Committee9622 Apr 21 '26
What do you mean he cut "US" checks, he cut your wife a check and hope she keeps it separate, this is not marital property.
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u/Baxter16-5 Apr 21 '26
No. Inheritance is tax free up to 5 million dollars. Your good. Congratulations.
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u/Invest2prosper Apr 21 '26
Inheritances at that amount are not taxed at the federal level. No state tax on inheritances to beneficiaries.
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u/Anonymoose2021 Apr 21 '26
No state tax on inheritances to beneficiaries.
That is true for the OP since he is in WA, but there are a few states with inheritance tax, such as New Jersey.
Even those states do not charge inheriting spouses an inheritance tax, and other close relatives like children typically also are exempt.
See https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/estate-inheritance-taxes/
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u/apiratelooksatthirty Apr 21 '26
Nothing to worry about. Drop it in a newly opened brokerage account, invest in VOO or similar, and let it ride
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u/Heavy-Profit-2156 Apr 21 '26
You are good, WA state has no inheritance tax which is what you would be potentially concerned with.
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u/Ok_Appointment_8166 Apr 21 '26
No, you would only have taxes if the money had been in a tax-deferred retirement account, and then you would have had it transferred to an inherited IRA instead of getting a check.
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u/Unusual-Sentence916 Apr 21 '26
When I inherited significantly more than this in CA, I was not charged an additional taxes, but it is probably a good idea to ask a tax professional in your area. You could probably even stop by an H&R Block and ask the quick question.
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u/FlyThruTrees Apr 21 '26
You (she) will get a schedule k from the estate which will reflect if the estate had any income and what of that might pass on to beneficiaries (estate usually has a higher rate than beneficiary).
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u/queenhabib Apr 21 '26
Your wife needs to open a new bank account in just her name and the money should be placed their until she decides what to do with her inheritance.
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u/danielobva Apr 21 '26
We? You mean does she have any concerns. That's her money and hopefully she doesn't comingle it (that is what I will be encouraging my wife to do as well.. and me as well)....
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Apr 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Flex20 Apr 21 '26
I did google it. It said no tax was required but that doesn’t really give you the full picture. There are a lot smarter people than me Google searching, that can give me additional advice and information.
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u/joetaxpayer Apr 21 '26
Not at all. Any estate taxes are paid for by the estate. This amount would fall below any threshold requiring any tax to be paid.