Probate Administration Attorneys

What the personal representative actually has to do

Take control of the estate's assets, which for real property means securing the place, insuring it, and keeping the taxes and any mortgage current.

Find the people entitled to notice and tell them, and deal with creditor claims inside the process the statute sets out.

Inventory and appraise the estate, which means listing what it holds and setting a value on each item. For real property that value has to come from a probate referee's appraisal, not from an opinion of value.

Account to the beneficiaries and the court, which means showing in writing where the money went.

Hand out what is left once the court authorizes it, following the will or, if there is no will, the intestate rules.

Each of those is a duty you owe the beneficiaries. A representative who neglects them can be removed and held responsible.

Selling real property during administration

Whether the representative can sell without going back to court depends on the authority the court granted. Full authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act allows a great deal without a hearing. Limited authority does not, and that difference is set early on.

Even with full authority, a sale of real property usually needs notice to the beneficiaries. A beneficiary who objects can push the matter back in front of the judge.

Sales made without the right authority, or without the right notice, are the ones that get unwound. Check where you stand before you accept an offer, not after.

Where administration goes wrong

A beneficiary lives in the property rent free while the estate pays the mortgage, taxes and insurance. This one is common. It can be accounted for in the final distribution, but it is far easier to sort out early than after two years.

A sale to a friend or relative at a price nobody tested against the market.

Years going by with no accounting, when the beneficiaries have a right to one and can compel it.

The representative treating estate money as though it were theirs to use, which is the fastest route to removal and personal liability.

What we do here

We act for personal representatives who want the administration done properly, and for beneficiaries who are being kept in the dark.

For representatives, most of the value is in the order things happen. Get the authority right, the notices right and the property secured, before decisions have to be made in a hurry.

For beneficiaries the first step is usually a request for an accounting. It turns a vague worry into a set of numbers that can be examined.