Are these Death Taxes valid?

[ohana]

What is the name of your state?
FL
Know someone who was left a house and contents in a Trust, which had a clause that stated - "All expenses, claims and taxes relative to this distribution shall be paid from the specific distribution of the beneficiary who receives this distribution. However this specific distribution shall bear no Death Taxes."

Why then would he be told by the executor he owes taxes on this?

 

[Dandy Don]

It is possible that the executor might not have known about the trust or the assets in the trust, and therefore might not have known about the house or the tax liability.

You have left out a few details of the situation.

Will the beneficiary also be receiving a financial payout from the trust or not?

Was there a will AND a trust, or just the will?

Is the executor also the same person as the trustee, or are these 2 different people? The executor can only administer the will, and the trust is a separate matter that is administered only by the trustee.

How much are the taxes and what type of taxes are they? If asked, the executor should be able to provide a bill or some type of documentation that supports his request for these taxes and hopefully is not trying to gouge more money from the beneficiary by lying about a supposed tax bill.

Beneficiary should think twice or get a professional second opinion before he agrees to pay these taxes. Are there other beneficiaries being asked to split this tax bill (which would be the proper thing to do) or is there only just the one beneficiary?

Normally the estate executor is responsible for paying taxes but you would need to provide further details before a definitive answer could be given. Is this estate currently being probated or not and is there enough money in the trust or in the estate to be able to afford the tax bill?