Estate
Choosing Who Will Do This For You
You now know exactly what the role involves. That makes you unusually well qualified to choose who should hold it in your own estate.
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Estate
36 guides · page 2 of 2
Estate
Closing the Estate: The Step That Ends Your Liability
Distributing the assets is not the end. A formal closing releases the representative, and skipping it leaves an open-ended exposure.
Estate
Being Paid for Estate Work, and Being Reimbursed for It
A personal representative may be entitled to compensation and to reimbursement of expenses, and both depend entirely on the records kept.
Estate
Dividing Possessions Without Dividing the Family
Disputes over an estate are far more often about a ring or a painting than about a portfolio, and the process used matters more than the value.
Estate
Real Property in Another State: A Second Process
A holiday home or investment property in another state can require its own administration, running alongside the main estate.
Estate
Refusing an Inheritance on Purpose: What a Disclaimer Does
Declining an inheritance sounds perverse and is occasionally the right decision, for tax reasons or to redirect assets to the next generation.
Estate
Signals That a Will May Be Challenged, and What to Do Early
Most will contests are predictable. The signals appear in the first weeks, and how the estate is administered in that period matters considerably.
Estate
Transfer on Death: The Quiet Instructions Attached to Accounts
Accounts can carry transfer or payable on death designations that override the will entirely, and families frequently do not know they exist.
Estate
Date of Death Values: The Numbers Everything Else Is Built On
Estate valuations are taken at a fixed moment, and those figures drive the tax position, the accounting, and what beneficiaries eventually receive.
Estate
Your Own Will Now Names Someone Who Has Died
Most married people leave everything to a spouse and name that spouse as executor. Both provisions have now failed, and the fallback may not suit you.
Estate
Beneficiaries: What They Are Owed, and What They Are Not
Most estate disputes begin as communication failures. Beneficiaries have real entitlements to information, and meeting them early prevents most conflict.
Estate
Getting a Deceased Spouse Off the Title
Property held jointly usually passes to the survivor, but the record does not update itself, and that becomes a problem at the point of sale.
Estate
The Trust That Was Signed But Never Funded
A trust only controls assets actually transferred into it. Unfunded trusts are common, and the discovery usually comes at the worst moment.
Estate
Estate Debts: Order of Payment Is Not a Matter of Preference
A personal representative who pays the wrong creditors first can become personally liable for the ones who should have been paid before them.
Estate
The Estate Account: Never Mix Estate Money With Your Own
A separate account for estate funds is the single administrative decision that most reliably keeps a personal representative out of difficulty.
Estate
The Inventory: The Document Everything Else Depends On
Almost every later question in an estate, from probate to tax to distribution, is answered from the inventory. Building it well saves repeating it.
Estate
Appointment: The Difference Between Being Named and Having Authority
Being named executor in a will is a nomination. Authority to act comes from the court, and acting before it can create personal exposure.
Estate
Does This Estate Need Probate At All?
Probate is not automatic. A significant share of estates pass largely outside it, and establishing that early saves months of unnecessary process.