A Simple Will Can Smooth out Many Problems in An Estate Administration and Distribution
The following is a simple estate planning and estate administration question asked to Harry Gross:
Dear Harry: My disabled brother recently died.
He was receiving a small amount of Social Security and not much else. My parents took care of him financially as well as physically.
When he died, he had about $30,000 in a bank account and CDs. Unfortunately, there was no will. The bank insisted that my mother had to set up some kind of estate account in order to get and use the money.
Does my mom not have any rights to the money? She paid all his living expenses for years. She also paid the funeral bill, which was sky-high.
He did have some debts, and the creditors are calling her for payment. Does she have to pay them first?
What Harry Says: I hope those debts don’t hit too hard. She can get the funeral expenses reimbursed. The creditors are next.
Finally, she will get the remainder. Fortunately, the lack of a will should not cause too many problems in your brother’s case. The state has a “will” for those who do not prepare their own. But in many cases that creates a situation never envisioned or desired by the decedent.
I cannot emphasize too much the need for everyone to have a will. It can smooth out many problems in administration of the estate as well as in the distribution. I can still remember the surprise of a friend who inherited just short of $1 million from an aunt who hated him.
Write that will!
Reference: Harry Gross, Philadelphia Daily News, (July 18, 2014)
Filed Under: Estate Planning; Estate Administration
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