Estate administration is a task of a lot of responsibility. When you find yourself in charge of administering the estate of a loved one, you are entering a whole new world in which there is a lot of paper work and as well as legal hurdles, and occasionally, family drama. It is not a fast or simple task, yet it should be done. This is what you can expect–and how to go through it without losing your head.
The will is the first thing you want. Simple enough, right? However, as any person who ever had to sort the decades worth of papers knows, it is hardly ever that simple. The will might be locked up in a drawer, or put away in a filing cabinet, or in any place, as I may say. If you do find it, great! Otherwise, you will have to dig or even get a lawyer to help you understand the next step. In the absence of a will, the state gets control of the estate, and that may be unseemly.
The will is discovered, now it is time to probe. It is the court procedure of certifying the will and conferring upon you the power to commence with the management of the estate. Unless everything goes wrong, this step may last a few months. However, when there is any doubt on the validity of the will, or when one is challenging it, the process involved will be lengthy. You will be caught in between, with the paperwork and legal procrastination, in a bid to proceed.
The actual task commences when one is supposed to find and acquire assets. When you are the executor, you will need to locate all that the deceased owns; bank accounts, property, investments and personal property. This may not seem complicated, but this is where the actual struggle is. Other things are not hard to locate such as a house or a car. Others such as life insurance policies or even hidden savings accounts need detective work. Can anticipate many hours spent trying to find all that and ensure that no cracks fall.
Another step that is always hard to take is paying debts, one feels like walking in mud. All debts have to be paid before anything can be transmitted to heirs. This comprises bills on credit cards, loans, taxes, and funeral bills. There is even not enough cash to cover it all at times, and then it comes to the tough decisions. There will be creditors who will be forced to wait. It is a balancing act and by no means always a fair one. But it is your business to put things straight.
After settling the debts, you are then able to divide the assets. This ought to be the simple part, correct? Wrong. When the deceased had clear instructions, then that is another thing. However, family life can confuse it. Conflicts on who receives what are frequent. With a clear will, emotions can intervene. There can be quarrels between the siblings, and some of them might have a sense of taking more. Being the executor, you are caught between the two, as you are trying to get the ball rolling and everybody has a different version of the fair.
With real estate, everything is a little more difficult. In case the deceased owned a house or property, you will have to transfer titles, taxes and even sell the property. When it is lying vacant too long then you are looking at possible repairs and maintenance. The fixing of certain properties might be required which is an added burden to an already complex process of selling the property.
In case of no will, the state intervenes and makes decisions on how to split the estate. This may be a protracted process. Family members who understood what was to occur may find themselves in darkness, as they may have been disappointed. The state does not necessarily separate things as family members may desire and it may result in squabbles or even suits. Such cases are likely to lead to a long process and the sooner everybody accepts the reality the better.
Estate administration is not an activity one anticipates enjoying but one that has to be done. It is like working as a project manager on a regular construction site that is in a chaos. Certain things can be easily managed; some others seem to be at risk of collapsing any time. However, with a steady hand, a good patience and a lot of organization, it can be possible to arrange everything. The bottom line is not to leave the deceased hanging and ensure that all is arranged in as pleasant a manner as possible.