That's a great point I hadn't considered. The property is just the first part of a larger inheritance that will come in phases. Would the estate planner work alongside the CPA and attorney, or would they typically handle different aspects of the situation?

Estate planners often work collaboratively with your CPA and attorney. They typically focus on the big picture and long-term strategy while the attorney handles immediate legal matters and the CPA addresses current tax implications. For a phased inheritance situation like yours, an estate planner would be particularly valuable. They can develop a comprehensive strategy that takes into account both current and future assets, helping you avoid potential pitfalls specific to non-citizens. For example, they might suggest specific trust structures that work better for non-citizens or strategies to minimize estate tax exposure across multiple countries.

DO NOT use regular tax software for international inheritance! I tried that last year and it was a disaster. The software doesn't ask the right questions about foreign assets and doesn't include all the necessary forms. I ended up having to amend my return and pay penalties because I missed filing several required information returns.

What about the tiebreaker rules though? I thought those only applied to which parent can claim the child as a dependent, not for determining Head of Household status?

You're right that the tiebreaker rules primarily address who can claim a child as a dependent. However, for HOH purposes, those same determinations become relevant because you need a "qualifying person" to claim HOH status. When a divorce decree specifically assigns which child each parent can claim, it establishes who each child is a qualifying person for. The IRS generally respects these legal agreements as the controlling factor, even with exactly 50/50 physical custody. Without such an agreement, you'd fall back to the regular tiebreaker rules, which would eventually come down to the higher AGI parent if everything else is equal.

This is kinda misleading. If there's a court order specifying which parent claims which child, the IRS nearly always accepts that for HOH purposes even with 50/50 custody. I've been through an audit on exactly this issue and had zero problems once I showed my divorce decree.

Does this mean I should be keeping all my textbook receipts? I spent like $900 on books this semester but wasn't planning to include that since it's not on my 1098-T. Can I actually claim that?

Yes, absolutely keep all your textbook receipts! The IRS specifically states that required textbooks are qualified education expenses for tax credits, even though they don't appear on your 1098-T. For the American Opportunity Credit in particular, required books, supplies and equipment are qualified expenses even if you don't buy them from the school. Just make sure you can verify they were required for your courses - having the syllabus that lists required materials is good supporting documentation.

This just confused me more. My Box 5 is higher than Box 1 because I got more aid than my tuition cost, and they refunded the extra to my bank account, which I used for apartment rent. So is that taxable or not??

The 1098-T is so confusing because some schools report in Box 1 (payments received) and others use Box 2 (amounts billed). My school uses Box 2 and leaves Box 1 empty, which makes calculating everything a nightmare.

That's exactly what I'm afraid of! Did you try to get them to fix the mistakes or file an amended return? I'm wondering if they stand behind their work when they mess up.

I did contact them about filing an amended return, but they wanted to charge me an additional fee for it even though the mistake was theirs. Their "accuracy guarantee" only covered penalties and interest if the IRS found an error, not money I overpaid due to their mistakes. That's when I switched preparers entirely. If you do go with Jackson Hewitt, get everything in writing about what their guarantee actually covers. Also ask to see a draft of your return before they file it and review the Schedule C thoroughly. Look especially at whether they've included all possible deductions like home office, business percentage of internet/phone, mileage, etc.

Do they offer any kind of audit protection? TurboTax charges extra for that and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it.

Have you tried the IRS Direct File system? I heard they're testing it in some states this year but not sure if it's any good.

I have tried the IRS Direct File beta in my state (was one of the test states). It's very basic right now and only works for the simplest tax situations - W-2 income, standard deduction, and a few tax credits. No itemizing, no 1099 income, no investment income. The interface is clean but feels unfinished compared to commercial options. The advantage is it's truly free and goes directly to the IRS. If your taxes are super simple, it's worth considering, but most people will need more features than it currently offers. They're supposed to expand it for next tax season though.

This! I used TaxSlayer through the IRS Free File program and filed federal + state completely free. My friend went directly to TaxSlayer's website and ended up paying $60 for the exact same service.