Required

Required Reports in Court Filing in Bethesda Estate Administration

The required reports in court filing in Bethesda administration will be dependent on the estate and the type of estate that is opened. Whether an estate is a small estate, a large estate, a regular administration, or a modified administration determines what the court requires with regards to reports. There are many considerations to take when dealing with administering an estate in Bethesda, and required documents to keep in mind. A Bethesda estate administration attorney will be essential in streamlining the process and making sure every important consideration is taken.

Inventory

An inventory is a list all of the assets a decedent owned in their sole name. Any assets that have beneficiary designations, joint owners, or have been pre-funded into a trust are not included on the inventory. An inventory includes the date of death value of the assets. How the date of death value is determined is pursuant to Maryland law.

Not all estate administrations reports in Bethesda require the filing of an inventory. Inventories are usually only required in the large regular estate administration and are not often required in modified administration procedures or involved state proceedings. While an inventory may not be required to be filed, a Personal Representative will undertake the process of creating an informal inventory to determine whether estate taxes are due.

The purpose of the inventory is to report to the court the assets of the estate and their market value as of the date of death of the decedent. The inventory is filed to the court only. There are no hard and firm rules about what actions cannot be taken until after the file gets an inventory.

Appraiser

Some assets require an appraiser to produce an appraisal report in court filing in Bethesda administration to create or generate the market value. That is common to real estate and tangible personal property such as cars, clothes, jewelry, artwork, coin collections.

Accounting

An accounting is the required report in court filing in Bethesda administration of all of the transactions that occurred in the estate from the date of the inventory or the date of the prior accounting. This includes all income such as interest or dividends or dividend reinvest, all losses or gains as a result of a sale or a change in the nature of the assets, and the report of all or the inclusions of all administration and expenses and debts that were paid during the accounting the accounting period. An accounting also often shows distributions and the calculation of the Personal Representative’s commission or the attorney’s fees and the calculation of the inheritance tax that is due in the State of Maryland.

An accounting is not required in every estate. It is required in large estates that are being administered as a regular estate. A modified administration includes a final report which is much less inclusive than an accounting.

The purpose of the accounting is to provide the court and the beneficiaries of the estate with the report of all the financial transactions that occurred by the Personal Representative. The court receives the accounting and a beneficiary or heirs of the estate may request a copy of the accounting. However, they are not required to receive a copy.

Required Documentation

The documentation that is required in someone’s estate administration is somewhat dependent on what they have before, but generally, an accounting would also include any documentation reflecting sales, sales of assets. Usually, the accounting does not include a lot of documentation.

Beneficiaries or heirs can file objections to the accounting and that has to be done within 20 days from the approval of the accounting. They can file their objections either directly with the Personal Representative or with the Register of Will’s office.