Estate Planning Newsletter

• Irrevocable Funeral Trusts and Medicaid Eligibility for Long-Term Care
  If you are concerned that the cost of skilled nursing care or other long-term care will exhaust your savings and saddle your heirs with your funeral and burial expenses, then you may want to consider adding an Irrevocable Funeral Trust... Read more.
• The QDOT and Non-Citizen Spouse
  A QDOT is a specific type of marital deduction trust that is designed to ensure that non-citizen spouses will eventually pay any taxes that may be due upon distribution of the principal from the trust, even if the surviving spouse... Read more.
• A Parent's Inheritance Can Affect Child Support Payments
  The federal Child Support Enforcement Act of 1984 requires each state to develop its own set of systematic guidelines for calculating awards of child support. Generally, state child support guidelines are based on the parents’... Read more.
• Federal Estate Taxation and "Special Use" Valuation of Certain Properties
  Calculation of the Value of Estate Assets Estate taxes are calculated based upon the value of the assets in the estate. One duty of the executor or administrator is to inventory all estate assets and assign a... Read more.

• Improper estate planning can lead to familial conflict
• 3 Worst Estate Planning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
• Stan Lee’s tangled web of estate planning and how to avoid this mess
• The Top Estate Planning Mistakes Divorcing Women Make
• Estate Planning: A Family Affair

Management & Distribution of Property After Death

When a person dies, a personal representative must be appointed to manage and distribute the decedent’s estate.

Types of Personal Representatives

A personal representative is any of the following:

• Executor – Someone who was chosen by the person who created the will (testator) to carry out the terms of a will after death.
• Administrator – Someone who has been designated by the probate court to manage and/or distribute a deceased person’s estate.

Court Appointment

Other than situations where a person dies without a will (intestate), a representative may be appointed if:

• An executor is not named in the will
• The named executor is no longer alive
• The named executor resigns or is incapable of handling the duties required of an executor

Standard of Care

In administering a decedent’s estate, the personal representative must exercise the same level of care that he/she would use in dealing with his/her own estate. The representative should use prudence and diligence in management of the decedent’s property.

Expenses

Personal representatives are usually reimbursed for any necessary out-of-pocket expenses. Such expenses may include:

• Property management wages
• Costs of attorney’s fees
• Cost of surety bond
• Property taxes
• Homeowner’s insurance
• Repairs made to the property

A personal representative is a fiduciary and may be personally responsible for any losses related to his/her neglect or mismanagement of a decedent’s estate.

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