How to execute a will?
Executing someone’s will is a big responsibility. It means that someone was confident enough in you to trust you with their final wishes – intentions for how they want to plan their estate to be used after they die.
First, review the last will and testament:
If you are the executor of an estate, then your first order of business will be to locate the last will and testament of the person who has died. This document could contain many surprises that were unknown to you during life.
The will is the decedent’s own checklist of how he or she wanted his or her assets distributed upon death. It may also consolidate all those properties (and maybe debts) that are held in several separate accounts into a single account for more convenience in distribution.
Manage the testator’s finances and debts:
When executing a Will, the Executor becomes responsible for managing the testator’s finances and debts. The Executor must follow Will’s instructions and keep an accurate accounting of the financials involved with the estate. Opening an estate bank account is one important step in having access to manage the finances.
If the testator has a bank account, you can use this bank account to pay debts like a mortgage or to make car payments and use it to deposit any money that he may be owed, such as wages, pension, life insurance, social security and/or retirement accounts.
The remaining property, gifts, and assets should be divided and distributed according to the will:
Once debts have been paid off, or if there is nothing left to divide or distribute, the residue of the estate and whatever specific property or gifts are named in the Will can be transferred to the beneficiaries. Depending on state laws. The actual method of distribution will be different for each state and county
The residue should be divided among family members as determined by the state where the death occurred, following any valid instructions provided by the decedent.
The wielder of the final power in a will often knows more about final arrangements than ordinary relatives, especially if the decedent had hoped for a public display of affection or had made elaborate plans for celebrating significant anniversaries.
Closing the estate:
There are a number of steps that need to be taken before you close an estate. This includes determining how much money you’re going to spend on funeral expenses, what type of services you plan to offer your funeral services with, and whether there are any outstanding taxes or insurance debts that you want to pay off before closing out the account.
The process of closing the estate begins early in the probate process. The basic premise is that the deceased person’s assets are worth less than the liabilities they incurred during their lifetime. This is why they had to be put into a trust for their successors, so those successors can begin earning income from them after death.
To close that estate, a lawyer needs to file an affidavit with the court stating that all property has been sold and all debts paid. Then, a probate judge holds a hearing to determine whether or not the deceased person’s will has been followed through on all aspects of closing the estate.