Estate & Trusts calculator
Is there enough cash to settle the estate and treat several heirs as intended?
Estimate cash needed at death and the gap between an illiquid asset for one heir and value for the others.
Before you calculate
Is there enough cash to settle the estate and treat several heirs as intended?
A family can own a valuable business, farm, or property and still lack cash when debts, taxes, and settlement costs are due. This calculator treats liquidity and fairness as two separate questions, then compares an illiquid asset for one heir with the value available to as many as five other heirs without interpreting estate documents.
Before you act on the number
Use the result to identify which assumption needs verification, then bring that question to the professional helping you make the decision.
Transparent method
Add entered debts, settlement costs, and taxes, then compare the total with cash available inside the estate to show the timing shortfall.
Subtract liabilities from estate assets, add outside-estate insurance to family value, and divide by the number of heirs to show an equal-value reference point.
Compare the reference point with the pool available to the heirs not receiving the illiquid asset and show the remaining total equalization gap.
Common questions
It is cash available when estate debts, taxes, expenses, and family obligations are due without forcing an unwanted sale of illiquid property.
It means using estate assets or outside resources to move beneficiaries toward the family's intended economic result when one person receives a concentrated asset.
No. Ownership value, voting control, employment, management, income, and inheritance are separate decisions and should be discussed separately.
It can be one source of timed liquidity, but underwriting, premium, ownership, estate inclusion, policy performance, and other assets must be reviewed before treating it as the solution.
Sources
Want the fine print? See sources, methods, and limits.