Every state is different. Count all the separate banks and other institutions you’ll have to deal with. We needed original death certificates for each one. We just ordered a half dozen certificates from the Department of Health. That was enough. Easy day. No lawyer required.

We had one departed aunt who had a very complicated will. She was a bitch when she was alive and she was a bitch in death. We had to turn it over to an attorney. Being a friend of the family we made his job easier and the cost lower by doing some of the leg work such as the DOH business ourselves.

Get organized. Create a file for each institution and heir; POCs, phone numbers, phone logs, talking points, conversation notes, etc.

Best of luck

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
The reason I'm asking is because my wife has gotten this crazy idea that we should have our son ( the Executor )sign on to our bank accounts so that when the time comes it will be easier for him to access the accounts .I trust my son but I just think it's neither necessary nor wise to add him to the accounts .

Selogic, I reread your post. Are you talking about an executor for yourself upon your death or for someone who has already departed?

Right of survivorship makes your son sole owner of property, like real estate, a checking account, or a vehicle, on which he is listed as joint owner. Transfer-On-Death documents ("TOD") or the like recently allowed family to smoothly receive assets from a relative's individual and retirement account. Nothing was probated.

Trust aside, TOD is easiest and IMHO safest, from a liability point of view, for liquid assets (e.g., say he is sued and someone comes after your assets while you're still using them). The house, there are several ways to proceed. In PA to add my brother to the deed or to retitle the house in the name of the Woodman Revocable Trust both will cost a few thousand. I'll let little brother wait for those shekels.

I’ve done several family members. No blended family or family feuds to deal with.
Much of this is state dependent so knowing the state is essential.
The account may be titled, like property, to pass to a survivor outside of probate. Makes things much simpler if done correctly.
Georgia is an easy state if there are no family squabbles, for most people. Others vary.
Don’t overlook before the end of life issues like health care POA and living wills or the fun can start well before death.

quote:

Originally posted by Gibb:
Yes.
The worst were the credit card companies. They would do anything in their power to get it to the next bill cycle in order to generate a few more pennies of interest.

My biggest hold up was with a Wells Fargo account for some reason in a distant state.....It took many phone calls faxing of continually different items and was a real Pain. Even the Local office where I have a account could do nothing to speed it up...Took months.
Also as the will decreed I had to split the property before selling and dividing of the money. I got the pleasur4 of dealing with my local administrators Seems in order to separate the house and some of the property from the rest I needed to give the city another 15 ft of road right of way and of course I had to pay a fee to do this. "And" before the city would "accept" the offered property I had to hire "their" guy to come out and inspect the 15 ft wide strip of property for possible previously dumped chemicals.... On property given to them for roadway expansion? I only had to pay this "expert" a single grand for his drive by...
Yep good times for sure.

Don't forget taxes. In some cases, you have to verify estate taxes are paid before accessing all the account. Requires another form from the City Government if I remember correctly.

Be patient. It seemed like every institution had their own requirements for documentation and paperwork

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
Take the death certificate and a copy of the Will to the bank. They'll take care of it.

To deal with instutions and .gov agencies via mail, go to a notary and have them notarize about a dozen copies of both documents as true copies of the original. Make a digital copy of one true copy for those that accept scanned versions.

Nope. How does the bank know the will is valid? It won't do anything.

You probate the will, and get letters testamentary telling others you are the person the court has designated as the executor. Each state will do this differently.

You may need a lawyer.

And everyone here who isn't a lawyer; quit practicing law. You could easily help someone cause a real problem.

I am not a lawyer. But, I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. Which is why I will not comment.

I’m with JHE....

My mom n dad created a trust with me being the executor of their wills and I’m in charge of the trust.My name is on all of the bank accounts, and I have a map to the buried treasure ( not really). But I know I will get an attorney when it happens.

And I have copies of all the paperwork. Big bro has copies of all the papers and has been told by mom herself. Little bro, is who I think will raise a stink.

But I will step on him like the hand of God, if he even looks sideways and wants something that mom didn’t say was to happen.

But I know I will probably need a lawyer

quote:

Originally posted by PD:

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
The reason I'm asking is because my wife has gotten this crazy idea that we should have our son ( the Executor )sign on to our bank accounts so that when the time comes it will be easier for him to access the accounts .I trust my son but I just think it's neither necessary nor wise to add him to the accounts .

Selogic, I reread your post. Are you talking about an executor for yourself upon your death or for someone who has already departed?

An Executor for my wife and I .

One of the issues I encountered was the sudden influx of concerns from 43rd degree inlaws/outlaws/unlaws, who had not been involved in clan matters for the largest part of the last half century, trying to create plausible scenarios why ~they~ were somehow entitled to some portion of the family estate.

I'm a lawyer licensed in IL, IA, and MO but only practice probate in Iowa. In the last year my grandmother passed away and then my father. My mother is of impaired health so my brother and I have been splitting the tasks of getting her "probate proof." Much of this is state-specific, but if you can, you want to avoid being in probate court due to the costs involved. For example, in Iowa, we do not have beneficiary deeds, like they do in Missouri. You get your 401K, IRA, money market, bank accounts, cars all set up "POD" and "TOD" and JTRS but forget about some real estate or can't transfer it because of a mortgage and its only owned in mom's or grandma's name and you're in probate court.

In Iowa, the value of your probate estate is calculated from every gross asset that is not in joint ownership with someone living, even if you have named beneficiaries (with the exception of life insurance). If you have sizeable retirement accounts or lots of acreage or an expensive house, that can be a sizeable estate. Attorney's fees are capped at 2% of the net value of the estate. Court costs are less, but could still get into the thousands and are based off that same gross estate value.

My dad was grandma's primary executor and I was backup, he was sick the whole time but getting sicker when I took over. I asked him if he had everything done, he said he did (he didn't). I had to reinvent the wheel to get her matters wrapped up.

He had pancreatic cancer for 4 1/2 years and did very little to get his financial matters in order, but by some miracles and a couple of hurried 5 hour drives to Missouri, I was able to get his estate probate-proof.

Everybody should have open discussions with their loved ones about their estate plans. Have a Will, keep the original but show it to your heirs and let them know where it is kept. Have an up to date summary of your finances with your Will, log-ins, etc. Keep an annual retirement, bank account, etc statement so account numbers and banks are known. Give instructions as to what to do with your guns (bequeath to family members, where to consign or auction them so your heirs don't get ripped off).

Leave it to SF to provide wisdom on this matter. The above posts all provide wisdom to one new to this world.

All I can add is:

* CYA with documentation
* Do no more or less than Will tells you to do
* If there is a threat of a personal lawsuit from your generously offering to do this ugly task, the legal bills go to the estate (if allowed by the Will)...

If you know you are on the hook as an executor/Personal Representative, make sure your charge has a “Contest this and you are out” clause in their Will.

Being an Executor/PR is a giving thing.

quote:

Originally posted by Fla. Jim: My biggest hold up was with a Wells Fargo account for some reason in a distant state.....It took many phone calls faxing of continually different items and was a real Pain. Even the Local office where I have a account could do nothing to speed it up...Took months.

10 months in our case with my In-Laws. And that was dealing face-to-face with the local branch who knew both my In-Laws, Mrs.'Hook and myself since we all had accounts there. Wells Fargo does not have a clue what their own procedures are to get names off of bank accounts, and even less so how to deal with investment accounts even with a will and a court order. It was such a relief to be done with that clown show, and enjoyable to close all of our accounts afterwards.

Obviously , we both have a Will . Our 401K's name our two sons as beneficiaries as do our Insurance policies ( assuming both of us are gone ) . We have no mortgage . Will specifies that the house be sold and money split .Guns and a small amount of jewelry are taken care of by the Will . Shouldn't be a lot of cash in the Banks after debts and funeral arrangements are settled . I'm probably going to see an Attorney this week and pose this scenario to him .

quote:

Originally posted by Gibb:


The worst were the credit card companies. They would do anything in their power to get it to the next bill cycle in order to generate a few more pennies of interest.

my father told me I was his executor,

my mother (They were divorced, but got along) told me the same,

just before Dad passed, we could not find his will that stated that, only an older will that had his attorney was his executor,

so I moved as much as I could out of his name as his POA as I could,

the banks had no issues with bank accounts (3, personal and 2 business) since I was already on the accounts,

however a business equity loan he had thru wells fargo was a major PITA to get paid off,


I ended up getting the attorney to draft of a legal doc stating I an my brother were the legal heirs, and had to file that with a handful of folks, including the county to get the deed out of his name for his house,

and +1 for copies, not sure how many I used, (I ordered 10 death certs when he passed, and used most of them up, and emailed about as many)


the entire process was a pita, and took just over a year to clear up,,

quote:

Originally posted by Gibb:
Another option to think about is adding your son on as a "Payable on Death" holder to the account. We did that for my grandmothers accounts, all he'd have to do is show the death cert and he'd gain full access to the account to close it out, while keeping it out of the estate (and possible probate).

This might be your best option to make the wife happy, AND keep him from having any access right now.

This is the way to do it.

I was the executor on my parents and this is the best way to make it easy without having to go into the whole estate issue and registering the will.

Many bank accounts have pay on death beneficiary designations. They will release funds only to that person with a certified death certificate.

Anything else will require what is essentially a court order granting authority to a person to act on behalf of an estate. It may be through a probate estate but could also be some alternative form of small estate administration that is not probate.

Just because a will names an executor does not always mean that person will be appointed by a court to do so.

Creating wills, trusts and alternatives to holding legal title need attorney counsel in your state to guide you. It’s too easy to make mistakes.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
The reason I'm asking is because my wife has gotten this crazy idea that we should have our son ( the Executor )sign on to our bank accounts so that when the time comes it will be easier for him to access the accounts .I trust my son but I just think it's neither necessary nor wise to add him to the accounts .

Ask a lawyer in your state how to effectuate your wishes. Ignore all the wannabes here. People more commonly screw up estate plans than any other legal matter with self help.

quote:

Ask a lawyer in your state how to effectuate your wishes. Ignore all the wannabes here. People more commonly screw up estate plans than any other legal matter with self help.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Why pay a lawyer for legal advice? I guess it is the crowd that does their own dentistry or surgery. Curiously, these same people will quickly hire an attorney for a DUI. Estate matters are complicated and as you have said differ from state to state. Hiring an attorney actually saved me money in the long run.