The Executor's Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide to Settling an Estate for Personal Representatives, Administrators, and Beneficiaries

Here is the only concise step-by-step guide specifically for estate executors. Although an individual with substantial assets generally nominates in his or her will a bank or trust company as estate executor, the vast majority of people nominate a friend or relative, who often finds the task bewildering, if not daunting. From anatomical gifts, death certificates, contested wills, probate courts, and taxes, taxes, taxes to the successful and efficient closing of the estate, this handbook guides the way through the potential labyrinth of estate law. In plain, unambiguous language, Theodore E. Hughes and David Klein provide more than a reassuring manual. Beginning with a look at the ideal qualifications for an executor (also called a personal representative), the authors examine the procedures for determining whether full probate is required; understanding the provisions of the will; managing or liquidating the testator's assets; dealing with beneficiaries, creditors, and probate court; and handling the testator's income and death taxes. Covering every aspect of the executor's duties, this handbook even includes special situations like collecting private employer pension benefits, settling a living trust, and estate planning for survivors. Tables include a rundown of probate vs. nonprobate assets and variations in state probate laws. Definitions of legal terminology, sample legal forms, and a look at hidden funeral expenses round out this comprehensive and helpful legal guide. Although other books deal with wills, funerals, and probate, no other book fully examines all the executor's duties. Whether nominated by the testator or appointed by the probate court, every executor will find thatthis book helps unite the many knotty problems of settling and closing an estate.