Posts Tagged ‘Executor’
In the absence of a Will, the law in your jurisdiction and the Probate Court decides how your assets will be handled. Not your partner nor family! Most countries, states and provinces have a fixed formula for allocating your assets. Probably not the way you intended.
Many legal experts will confirm that too many Wills cannot be properly executed because they cannot be found.
Expensive and often futile searches are made by executors and their solicitors for the Will and safe deposit box locations after the death of the testator.
People today travel more frequently, change occupations, and move to other regions of a country or perhaps to a new country.
Sons, and daughters and partners often don’t know where the testator does their banking, “IF” they have a Will, where is it kept, along with other important documents, thereby adding further grief and anxiety to a family following a death.
Your “Honey Do List” should have two top of the chart functions to carry out.
1…Get on top of that effort to have a Family Will drafted:
2…Get that Wills Location registered with a worlds wills locations registry for your peace of mind.
Info on Wills Registries coming up.
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A reader asks…….Who starts this process ?
A formal written petition to the court along with a filing fee must be submitted to the court to start the probate process.
One of the courts first jobs is to approve or appoint someone to handle the affairs of the estate. This person is called the executor, administor or personal representative depending upon the rules of the state/prov, and whether the decedent died with or without a Will.
We will call this agent of the estate a “personal representative”.
Generally, the first thing the personal representative does is hire an experienced probate attorney, although that may not always be a legal requirement.
In many cases, hiring an attorney may become a practical necessity because probate paperwork and filing procedures can be very comlex.
Another step to follow.
Remember March 23rd, Diabetes Risk Test Day.
These Celebrities did not pay enough attention to their estate planning and Wills preparations and it cost them heavily !
W.C. FIELD’s estate was $884,680.00, settlement costs were $329,793.00 leaving $554,877.00 !
HUMPHREY BOGART’s estate was $808,378.00, settlement costs were $172,466.00 leaving $635,912.oo !
GARY COOPER’s estate was $4,339,968.00, settlement costs were $885,437.00 leaving $3,454,531.00 !
CECIL B. DeMILLE’s estate was $4,043,607.00, settlement costs were $1,396,064.00 leaving $2,647,543.00 !
WALT DISNEY’s estate was $20,982,796.00, settlement costs were $4,789,888.00 leaving $16,192,908.00 !
ELVIS PRESLEY’s estate was $6,332,882.00, settlement costs were $3,542,083.00 leaving $2,790,799.00 !
Probate fees can be very expensive ! At the moment, it is known that the average cost is between 2% and 4% of the gross value of the estate!
60% goes to lawyers, and 40% goes to personal representatives and others.
Remember, every dollar that goes to pay probate costs is a dollar that could benefit your family, and opportunities can be lost because the cumbersome probate system moves so slowly.
With ever-changing legal and taxation laws, planning your estate, with the best legal professionals guarantee’s the proper advice to suit each individuals personal situation. There are no short-cuts !
With the estate planning accomplished, take the next step to REGISTER THE LOCATION OF WHERE YOUR VALUEABLE DOCUMENTS ARE GOING TO BE STORED WITH A WORLDS WILLS LOCATION REGISTRY for easy retrieval when needed without costly legal searches.
REMEMBER, IT IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TESTATOR TO INSURE THEIR MOST RECENT WILL CAN BE FOUND !
Can you be accused of poor estate planning and leaving messy details and anguish for your family because you did not leave a WILL ?
Can you be accused as well, that if you did leave a Will, did you register its location with a worlds wills location registry so it can be easily found when needed by the family and executor?
If you said YES to both accusations, you are joining some famous people like the following who died without a Will , and through poor estate planning lost a significant amount of their money in heavy settlement costs !
Clark Gable’s estate was $2,478,299.00. The settlement costs were $772,811.00, leaving a net estate of $1,705,488.00 ?
Al Jolson’s estate was $4,385,143.00, The settlement cost was $1,349,066.00, leaving a net estate of $3,036,077.00 ?
Marilyn Munroe’s estate was $544,810.oo. The settlement costs were $174,384.00, leaving a net estate of $370,426.00 ?
Franklin D Roosevelt’s estate was $1,940,999.00. The settlement costs were $574,867.00 leaving an estate of $1,366,132’00
( Once Wills go through the Probate Court, the Will information then becomes a public record in the courts,)
Do you want to lose an unnecessary amount of your money from your estate, and incurr additional legal costs through bad planning on your part ?
Isn’t the above history of these famous people enough motivation for you to investigate how YOUR estate planning can be handled to minimize your possible losses ?
will register
Why should you register the location of your Will……..if you have one?
SIMPLY……because if it cannot be found when needed, the effort and cost to draft your Will was a WASTE OF TIME !.
It will be lost foreever!
The worlds legal fraternity admits that too many Wills cannot be properly executed because they cannot be found when needed.!
Is that a gamble you are prepared to take ?
THE GOOD_ _ THE BAD _ _ AND THE UGLY _ _ _OF SOME PROBATE FEES !
Some families may consider the way probate fees are calculated as being unfair to the family.?
Some states/prov. laws, sets the fees that probate representatives may charge. Many allow representatives to charge any fee that the court would consider reasonable, without limitations. Others, limit the fees to a fixed percentage of the value of the estate. These fees can be expensive under either method.
Cosider the late William E. Boeing estate results showing a 47% reduction in the estate value ? The estate was valued at $22,386,158.00. total settlement costs were $10,589,748.00 , leaving a net estate value of only $11,796,410.00 ? By any standard, that is extremely expensive as most would agree.
Depending on how title was held on the date of death, a married couple could pay some form of probate fees on the death of each spouse. Again a firm reminder for individuals to use the services of a qualified legal professional when they start their estate planning to minimize these sometime costly fees.
Because a WILL only takes effect at the time of your death, the answer is NO. A Will has no control over events during your life.
When the word Probate is mentioned, many people think it is only something that happens when you die!
Most people unaware of these processes, do not realize that probate can also happen while you are alive. It might be referred to as a living probate, but in legal language it is called a “conservatorship “ or “guardianship proceeding ”
If you become mentally disabled before you die, the probate court will appoint someone to take control of all your assets and personal affairs.
These court appointed agents must file very strict annual accountings with the court, causing the entitre process to be very expensive, time-consuming and most of all, humiliating!
Will planning
A NEW MOON is an ideal time for new beginings and putting resolutions in gear that are meaningful !
Often, it allows sharper focus on family matters, what one can do to improve family relationships, and make all family members more comfortable in their surroundings knowing that the future of all members is being properly laid out.
You can start the dialogue with family members by introducing some of the language that they all should become familiar with. Your plans for their future, the Testamentary Letter, ( the letter first putting together all the information you will need to give to your legal professional), your Estate Plan ( and what that is ), explain what a Testator and a Testatrix is, what a Codicil and Probate means, what assets, beneficiaries and child guardianship mean, what a Family Will is, a Living Will, a power of attorney, a Health Care Directive is, Living Trust.
Impress upon them the importance of their input and the part they should play in helping put together this information together for presentation to their legal advisor.
And finally, with the legal advisor, be sure to explain the parts the family will have to play when that eventful time is at hand. The more members of the team that are involved makes for a more favorable accomplishment.
Family members with aging parents should not be bashful about asking of their parents, what they want the family to do in the event of. Some parents may not be so open to discuss these events, but family should press for definet instructions of what they want their parents to do. This is not being offensive. IT IS BEING PRATICAL !
Another estate planning option called a Revocable Living Trust is becoming popular with estate planners as a complete WILL substitute.
The reason, IT CAN CONTROL ALL OF YOUR ASSETS BOTH DURING YOUR LIFE AND AFTER YOUR DEATH !
Financial planners tell us that when you set up a Living Trust,, you transfer the title of all your major assets (stocks, bonds, real estate etc. ) from your name to the name of the Trust.
You then name yourself as the trustee and beneficiary. _ _ _ That gives you, and you alone, total and complete control of all your assets. _ _ _ You can buy, sell, trade, do whatever you want_ _ _just like you do now.!
These financial planners say the real benefit of it, is the difference between a Will, because when you die, there will be no assets left in your name, and therefore, no probate for your family to endure. Whomever you name as your successor trustee will immediately gain control of your assets to distribute them according to your exact instructions.
This blog consistently recommends that individuals enter this arena of Estate planning with as many professional helpers as possible. Your insurance broker, lawyer or notary, or financial planner or Trust officer to gain as much knowledge about what is best for their personal situations. Sure, getting married is a lot simpler, but in doing so, one automatically assumes a whole new world of responsibilities. How one handles and organizes these responsibilities determines how successful they will be in planning their estate.
Because a WILL insures that your estate will go through probate, upon your death it becomes a PUBLIC DOCUMENT. When it is filed with the probate court, it is AVAILABLE to anyone who wants to read it !
Once your WILL enters the probate process, your estate is no longer controlled by your family. It is in the hands of the court and probate attorneys.
Anyone can go down to the courthouse and read your Will as it has now become a PUBLIC DOCUMENT. Under the Freedom of Information Act it is available to anyone who seeks it out !
This may not sit well with your beliefs, so it IS vitally important that you fully understand your best options when talking with your legal professional about what it is that YOU WANT TO HAVE HAPPEN.