Selecting a Personal Representative in Bethesda

Meeting with an estate planning attorney to begin the process of selecting a personal representative for their estate in Bethesda may be helpful for individuals, especially married couples who have just gotten married and want to begin to combine assets or manage their assets or household. It may also be helpful prior to marriage, if prenuptial agreements are a consideration to begin making a plan for their estate in Bethesda.

It is important to develop a plan that protects the needs of your beneficiaries and the estate and assets you have worked hard to attain. A Bethesda estate attorney can help you create solutions that protect your assets. You will need the help of an experienced estate planning lawyer as soon as you want to begin the process to selecting a personal representative in Bethesda and begin the estate planning process.

Authority to Determining Administration

Prior to death, an individual has a lot of authority in determining who they would like to nominate to serve as Personal Representative of their estate. This is typically done in the creation and the execution of a last will and testament. Prior to death, an individual can make that selection in the last will and testament. In the event that a person loses capacity or passes away, they no longer have the opportunity to make that selection for Personal Representative and then Maryland laws of intestacy step in to determine who has priority to serve as Personal Representative of the estate.

For example, an individual has three children and they rely heavily on one child to manage their assets or affairs or one child cared for the parent during their lifetime. While that parent may have wished for that same child to serve as Personal Representative, after death, all three children legally have equal priority to serve under Maryland law. That means the parent’s wishes may not be kept. There may also be a greater opportunity for a family dispute among the three siblings. It is likely that the parent would have simplified matters and selected just one child to be the personal representative of the estate in Bethesda had they created a last will and testament.

Qualities of a Representative

A personal representative in Bethesda should be over the age of 18 and a US citizen or, in many cases, a US legal resident. The personal representative should be somebody who has not committed a serious crime and has the capacity to serve on behalf of the estate. An ideal candidate for someone to select as their personal representative in Bethesda is someone who is detail oriented and is ultimately somebody the individual trusted with managing their assets during their lifetime.

The Personal Representative has fiduciary obligations to the estate. Broadly, their duties include marshaling all of the assets, paying any legally enforceable debts, filing any income or estate tax returns that are due, and making distribution pursuant to the terms of decedent’s last will and testament or to the Maryland laws of intestacy.