What Duties Are Performed By An Executor Of Estate

An estate trustee, known alternatively as the executor of estate is required to perform the most difficult duties with full responsibility under a legal agreement for a stipulated fee. These duties include the following.

Perform an inventory of the estate owner's assets- This includes locating and recording every asset that is/was owned by the estate owner. Such asserts also include investments made by the owner. Valuation of all the assets will be required to be done. This includes assets such as artwork, collections, antiques, and other valuables for which appraisals will be required.

Locate all the heirs who are beneficiaries of the estate- This may sometimes involve locating the whereabouts of a beneficiary about whom no one knows the location of. In such a case, you may have to hire a private investigator to find the whereabouts of the specific beneficiary. The wording in the will may be 'I leave the sum of $10,000 each to all my nephews and nieces'. Accordingly, you will need to track down all the living nephews and nieces of the owner.

Give notice of the death of the estate owner to institutions where the deceased had accounts- This involves informing insurance companies from whom the deceased had taken out life insurance policies. In case the owner had taken any loans, the creditors need to be informed about the death so as to enable them to lodge claims. This may sometimes involve putting in a legal notice in newspapers to inform creditors that they need to lodge a claim.

Petition the court to probate the will- The executor of the estate is required to submit an application before the court to validate the will. He may have to also represent the case before the court.

Safeguard the estate assets, pay outstanding bills, manage investments, and maintain the family house- All these are the other duties of an executor of estate, some of which also include paying insurance premia in time and securing the assets of the estate till the probate process is completed. This last work of securing the assets helps avoid heirs walking off with the assets before the court completes probating the will as genuine and last.

Prepare and file the estate tax- The executor of the estate needs to remember that the estate tax is due nine months after the death of the estate owner. Therefore, he needs to prepare the estate tax return and file it with the IRS in time. The executor is personally held responsible by the IRS for any late filing of the return for which the penalties are levied directly on the estate executor.

Distribute the remaining assets to the designated heirs of the deceased estate owner as per instructions specified in the will- This distribution of assets is by far the most important duty of the executor of estate.

In case the designated heirs are minor children, the executor of estate will have to manage the estate till the heirs gain maturity.

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