A DC trusts and estates lawyer can provide assistance with all types of estate planning techniques so you can develop a comprehensive plan for your future.

Mort graduated from Yale Law School after graduating cum laude from Bowdoin College where he was an elected member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Ms. Haber earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and her Juris Doctor from the University of Florida.

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Personal Representatives in Fairfax Estate Administration Cases

Personal representatives in Fairfax estate administration cases are essentially the same thing as an executor/administrator of a person’s estate. They are responsible for overseeing the administration of estates. If you want to know more about the responsibilities that personal representatives have, do not hesitate to contact an experienced estate planning lawyer that could answer your questions.

Duties of a Personal Representative

Once an executor is qualified by the court, they are responsible for marshaling or collecting the assets of the estate; paying all legally enforceable debts; ensuring all required tax returns are filed, and making distributions to rightful beneficiaries. Marshaling the assets means collecting all of the person’s assets owned at their death and valuing them as of the date of death. This is important for the purposes of filing the inventory.

Once the assets are collected and valued, it is usually necessary to have the assets re-titled in the name of the estate. Once those assets are re-titled in the name of the estate, they can be deposited into an estate checking account. The administrator or the executor can open an estate checking account once they obtain a tax identification number for the estate from the Internal Revenue Service. This is necessary because estate of a person is a different taxable entity than the person.

Paying Debts

Personal representatives in Fairfax estate administration cases are not personally responsible for paying debts. However, they are responsible for paying any legally enforceable debts from the estate funds when funds are available. The executor can pay these debts from the estate checking account.

Once all legally enforceable debts are paid and all taxes are filed and paid, the executor is responsible for distributing all remaining assets to the beneficiaries. The executor or administrator is also required to file all required court reporting.

Resolving Conflict Between Interested Persons and Personal Representatives

Conflicts between an interested person and a representative such as the executor or administrator of an estate are typically resolved within the court system. When an interested person wishes to contest the will, they can do so at the court. They usually have within one year of the representative being qualified to file a will contest. Conflicts also may arise because the interested person wants to appeal the decision of the court to have the representative qualified. The interested person wants to serve as the administrator of the estate. This is also resolved within the court system.

Required Reports When Administering an Estate

The first report that personal representatives in Fairfax estate administration cases must produce when administrating the estate in Fairfax is the notice of probate that is due to the surviving spouse, the beneficiaries under the will, and the heirs at law. Once the executor or administrator sends the notice of probate to those people, they must file an affidavit with the court to certify that the notice was sent. In addition to the affidavit, the administrator or executor must also file an inventory with the court.

The inventory details the specific assets of the estate including personal property, joint properties that are specifically bank accounts, real estate that the executor has the authority to sell, and real estate that the executor does not have authority to sell. In addition to the inventory, the executor or administrator must also file an accounting within 16 months of the date they became qualified to be the executor or administrator.

How an Estate Planning Lawyer Could Help

An estate lawyer can help personal representatives in Fairfax estate administration cases throughout the entire process of administration. Initially, an estate lawyer can inform a potential executor or administrator of their responsibilities upon their appointment by the court. Thereafter, the lawyer can help the person become appointed by accompanying the personal representative to the clerk of the court’s office to file the initial pleadings to open the estate. Once appointed and depending on the preference of the executor or representative, the estate lawyer can be available to provide guidance or assist in a hands-on fashion with marshaling the assets, obtaining date of death evaluations of those assets, determining any debts that must be paid, and overseeing the distribution of remaining estate assets to the beneficiaries.