Estate Planning News

Naming an Executor To Your Estate

The person who carries out or executes the instructions in a will is called an executor. Obviously, your executor should be an individual you trust. Most people choose their spouse, an adult child, a relative, a friend, or trust company or attorney to fulfill this duty. Choose someone who can handle all of the financial matters involved with settling your estate, and check with that person ahead of time to make sure they are willing to assume the responsibility. Some states stipulate that the executor must be a state resident. It's a good idea to appoint an alternate executor in case the first person you name is unable or unwilling to fulfill the responsibility. The responsibilities of an executor generally include:

• Collecting your assets
• Paying creditors
• Paying taxes
• Notifying Social Security and other agencies and companies of the death
• Canceling credit cards, magazine subscriptions
• Distributing assets according to the will

While you can specify in your will that an executor waive payment in order to be eligible to serve as executor, this is only suitable if the person named is a beneficiary of the estate or a very close personal friend, since being an executor is time consuming. You should expect your estate to pay an independent executor for this service. Banks or trust companies will not serve as executors of estates unless entitled to payment. If no executor is named in a will, a probate judge will appoint one, most often a bank or an attorney. This will likely increase the cost.

Put It in Writing

An inventory of your assets is a good start, but it's not the only information you need to create a will. You also need a list of family members and other beneficiaries (e.g.,charities) that you may mention in your will, an estimate of your outstanding debts, and an outline of your objectives (e.g., to provide college tuition for my grandchildren). Use this information to consider how you want to distribute your assets.

Ask yourself lots of questions: Is it important to pass my property to my heirs in the most tax-efficient manner? How much money will my grand child need for college? Do I need to provide for a child who has a disability? An attorney familiar with estate planning will help you identify the questions and guide you in determining the answers.

Specific bequests are those in which you name a specific beneficiary to receive a specific sum of money or a specific item or property (e.g., $10,000; my furnished residence at 10 Elm St.; my entire coin collection). Specific bequests may also be made to charities, although the tax consequences of the two maybe different.

Contact our Plano estate planning attorney now.

	Did You Know?
	A "Living Trust" can be used to hold legal title to and provide a mechanism to manage your property You can select the person or persons you want -- often even yourself -- as the Trustee(s) to carry out the instructions you want in the Trust and name one or more Successor Trustees to take over if you cannot. Unlike a Will, a Trust usually becomes effective immediately, continues in force during your lifetime even in the event of your incapacity, and continues after your death. Most Trusts are "revocable" which allows the person who creates the Trust to make future changes, modifications and even to terminate it.