Estate Administration
In many jurisdictions, estate administration occurs under the authority of a Surrogate's Court. That Court issues letters of administration to the Estate Representative. With a Will some Surrogate procedures can be streamlined or by-passed resulting in a significantly more efficient process. Regardless of the procedure, the Executor or Administrator of the Estate is empowered to act and deal with all assets held by the deceased which do not have named beneficiaries. These are referred to as Probate Assets.
Assets which have named beneficiaries, such as Pensions, IRAs, 401(k)s, annuities, life insurance and some bank accounts, are not Probate Assets and are not subject to Estate Administration.
An Attorney can advise you as to local rules and the steps necessary to complete the Administration. The Administrator is charged with marshalling the assets, paying only the rightful creditors (including at times creditors of the beneficiaries) and distributing what remains in accordance with the deceased wishes as contained in a proper Will. In the absence of a proper Will, state law will determine the distribution.
©2014 David B. Foltz, Esq.
Assets which have named beneficiaries, such as Pensions, IRAs, 401(k)s, annuities, life insurance and some bank accounts, are not Probate Assets and are not subject to Estate Administration.
An Attorney can advise you as to local rules and the steps necessary to complete the Administration. The Administrator is charged with marshalling the assets, paying only the rightful creditors (including at times creditors of the beneficiaries) and distributing what remains in accordance with the deceased wishes as contained in a proper Will. In the absence of a proper Will, state law will determine the distribution.
©2014 David B. Foltz, Esq.
| estate_administration.pdf |
Contested Probate
Too often in Estate Administration, one sibling allows another to take care of the details, and then discovers at the end of a 12 to 24 month period that the money is gone. An Executor is generally given 1 year to perform the proper duties. After that, you can go to Court to enforce your right to a Proper Accounting. The Executor must account all assets received, all gains and losses, all expenditures and the balances remaining on hand. Some assets may be difficult to value, like lawsuits and other claims. The Executor should be made to prove any sales or exchanges were made at arm's length in the normal course of business, and not sweetheart deals with acquaintances or relatives.
An Estate Administration Attorney can advise you as to the proper instigation of a Motion to Compel an Accounting, as well as understanding the mechanics of the Accounting itself. Remember that any beneficiary or other interested party has a right to information about the administration of any Estate.
©2014 David B. Foltz, Esq.
An Estate Administration Attorney can advise you as to the proper instigation of a Motion to Compel an Accounting, as well as understanding the mechanics of the Accounting itself. Remember that any beneficiary or other interested party has a right to information about the administration of any Estate.
©2014 David B. Foltz, Esq.
| contestd_probate.pdf |