The Last Will and Testament of Andy Rooney, the longtime commentator on 60 Minutes who died back in November 2011, has been filed for probate in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court.

According to the New York Daily News, the will leaves the entire estate, which is comprised of $8 million in stocks, bonds and cash and $1 million in real estate, to Mr. Rooney's four children, Brian Rooney of Los Angeles, identical twins Emily Rooney of Boston and Martha Fishel of Chevy Chase, MD, and Ellen Rooney of London. Mr. Rooney's wife, Marguerite "Margie" Rooney, died in 2004. They had been married for 62 years.

When asked about his father's estate, Brian Rooney said that his father lived "frugally" and "wasn't into fancy estate planning." So based on this statement, apparently Mr. Rooney did not do any estate tax planning. Assuming that Mr. Rooney did not have many liabilities and no assets passed outside of his probate estate, then this means that his estate will owe approximately $1.4 million in federal estate taxes and $916,000 in New York estate taxes, leaving about $6.68 million for his children to split – still not too shabby.

To avoid State and Federal taxes, please contact our office at 301 663 9230 or visit our elder care attorney website at David Wingate for help, advice and strategies.