Are you the executor?
Aunt Ima Goner has passed to her reward and you have been designated in her Last Will and Testament as the executor (personal representative). What now?
This article will explain what you must do to probate your aunt’s estate. If there is no will, usually the family agrees on the person to serve as personal representative.
Contact an attorney who has probate experience. She or he will prepare all the court documents, property transfer forms and taxes. Your initial responsibility as executor is to do the following: make a list of all the probate assets, determine who are the creditors (who are notified that they must file a claim to be paid), bring the will with you to the attorney and locate all the beneficiaries of the estate (or heirs, if there is no will).
Once the estate is opened, you will need to: take control of all the assets, obtain a valuation of the assets and request a tax identification number from the IRS (for any estate income).
The estate must file an inventory with the court within two months of its opening, listing all the assets at their fair market value at death. For bank and stock accounts, you can receive a statement of value through the bank or broker. Real estate, household goods, motor vehicles and antiques will likely require an appraiser.
Any creditor who timely files (within three months of the estate opening) may be paid if the debt is legitimate, but you may contest its validity or timeliness and the court will make the final determination.
The personal representative usually waits for the claim period to expire before distributing assets to the estate beneficiaries. If the estate is supervised, any sale of assets or their distribution must be approved by the court. Who gets what depends on the will, or if there is no will, then who inherits is specified by Indiana law.
Before the estate is closed, the following must be paid: valid claims, decedent’s income taxes, as well as the estate income taxes and Indiana inheritance and federal estate taxes.
When these items are paid, you are ready to make a final distribution to the estate beneficiaries, then close the estate. If the estate is supervised, you must file a final accounting and receive court approval. If the estate is not supervised, then you file a Closing Statement and provide an accounting to each estate beneficiary.
The time all this takes varies greatly. Probably the average is around six to nine months, but much depends on complications such as a will contest, tax disputes, claims litigation and assets that are difficult to sell. The probate costs also vary, but a workable rule is between 3 percent and 5 percent of the estate assets.
Steve Maple is an attorney and professor at the University of Indianapolis. He is the author of The Complete idiot’s Guide to Wills and Estates (3d. ed.).
