I had a client who was handling his father’s estate. Unfortunately, the estate was in dispute and the court issued an order that no payments were to be made by the executor until the dispute was resolved.

While the courts had ordered that no payment was permitted, the courts did not order that the taxes were not to be filed. Accordingly, we ensured that the tax returns were timely filed to the tax department. But we were unable to pay the resulting bill.

When the dispute was resolved and the court order lifted, then the bill, with interest was paid. However, given that the interest was the result of the court order, I negotiated with the tax department to waive the interest. I was successful in those negotiations, resulting in a little more money to go to the surviving children and grandchildren of the deceased. The executor was pleased.