<p>intparent the way our attorney explained things to us, the final estate report will show all funds dispersed, which is why they wanted everything to go through the estate checking account. This information would be reported to the probate court and made public anyway. If the OP isn’t going through probate then such details might not be needed.</p>
<p>The lawyer is also advertising in a local newspaper that the estate has been opened to provide notice to any potential creditors. He has told us that the executor will be completely free of liability for all distributions made exactly one year after the date of the first advertisement, should there be any creditors. </p>
<p>The law is different for each state, but the OP could look up his or her state law or get a quick consult from an estate attorney to have a better idea of the amount of time the estate account should be open.</p>
<p>You are the executor. You. Stop talking about it to them. Just say, “It’s being taken care of.” THEY have no power here. It’s a learning curve for you, and that’s ok (don’t say that)</p>
<p>Don’t do “the letter” you mentioned ~ just asking for trouble.</p>
<p>You’ve been given excellent advice here. Pay attention to it.</p>
<p>Your siblings are being greedy and are trying to pressure you. You know what is the right thing to do, or you wouldn’t have asked your initial question.</p>
<p>Your mother appointed you executor for a reason. Don’t let her down.</p>
<p>ETA: Also, it doesn’t matter if there’s $500 in the account, or $5,000, or $5,000,000. The principle is exactly the same. You’re in charge.</p>
<p>I’m a CPA and have been involved in the estates of many clients. My advice of disbursing funds early is NONONO. I seen it cause only trouble. Estates in my state take a minimum of about a year, and often longer. I have seen how incredibly pushy and insistent siblings can be. It’s a difficult, stressful time and sometimes people cave under the pressure. Blame it on the CPA, legal counsel, the banker, just don’t do it!</p>
<p>I am (was?) the executor of my mother’s estate. I, too, had some relatives constantly asking me when they would be getting some money. I have a sister that seemed to think I was holding the money back because I didn’t need it and didn’t care that she did. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I just told them I would release funds as soon as I legally and/or prudently could. And it took well over a year before all funds were disbursed btw.</p>
<p>Every relative that received any money had to sign a Refunding Bond and Release Form and it had to be notorized. It basically said that–
They acknowledge receipt of the sum.
They release and discharge the Personal Representative (PR) from all claims and demands regarding their portion of the bequest.
They agree to pay back to the PR their “ratable” part if the PR does not have sufficient assets to discharge all proper debts and obligations of the Estate.</p>
<p>If this was not signed, notorized and returned, I did not send them a check. Period.</p>
<p>Yes, this is how ours has worked as well. I just finished the eight years of final estate report accounting this week for ours. :eek: What a nightmare… We actually had three checking accounts in the name of the estate for various reasons (we had one in a foreign country for a while due to some assets there – but that one is long since closed). We also had a CD at one point (when rates where better, back in the day!) because we did not want to disburse yet, but wanted to get a better rate of interest on the estate account. Again, all in the name of the estate with only the PRs with access to the funds.</p>
<p>But the deceased may have had other accounts that are not yet closed or liquidated. For example, various types of retirement vehicles may take a while to liquidate. Ultimately all other accounts and sale of assets should flow into the estate account(s). I assume that is what the OP means by the estate checking account is an account where all receipts and expenditures of the estate are handled.</p>
<p>We hired a lawyer to oversee things. It did cost several thousand dollars, but is worth it for peace of mind, IMO, and the amount left to us was large enough to warrant it. It was only a pension, a condo and a couple of bank accounts, so not terribly complicated, but certain things needed to be done and it took some time. My sibling also needed money, but took out a short term loan. I trust my sibling, but wanted everything done through proper channels, in writing, disbursed at the appropriate time (after certain things were done), not just for me or for her, but so that any future person looking back on it would have a paper trail, and an understanding of how things were disbursed and why. It has been over a year, and we are getting to the end of the process. We could have moved along a little faster, yes, but I think a year is a very reasonable time frame under most circumstances. We got a weird bill from an ambulance company about six months after my dad’s death, and went back and forth with that for months. I am actually still not sure they dropped it. It was supposed to be submitted by the ambulance company to medicare, but they didn’t, and decided it would be easier to harass me about it, I guess. Anyway, unexpected and odd things can turn up months after the fact, and with seven hospitals in the game in your case, it could be awhile before you are certain that everything has been settled.</p>
<p>Were most of your mother’s assets held in a trust? I assume so, since you stated that, “Really the only thing I have authority over is one bank account.”</p>
<p>If the estate was held in a trust, and you and your siblings are the co-trustees, then as you probably already know, you don’t have any control over the bulk of the estate by yourself. As executor, you will be responsible for paying any outstanding bills and shepherding your mother’s tax return, which is probably what the bank account was allocated for. </p>
<p>Did she have a regular accountant? If so, find out from him/her what your mother’s likely tax liability will be for the year. S/he can probably give you a pretty good estimate based upon past taxes. My understanding is that once her tax return is filed, you will receive a “clearance” from the tax authorities. At that point, if you feel comfortable that you have paid all her outstanding bills and closed all her outstanding accounts, you can probably safely disburse the funds from the remaining bank account.</p>
<p>Did you know your executor’s fee is taxable income? We had no clue. So if you are one of 2 heirs, and the executor’s fee is 5%, and you divide everything 55/45, then your extra 5% is ordinary income!</p>
<p>Better for mom to divide everything 55/45, appoint you executor with no fee. I wonder if that would work.</p>
<p>It appears from a little reading that various states have specific laws regarding how long creditors have to file claims against estates. New Jersey, for example, is nine months. You need to find out what the law is in the state of the deceased. You are unwise to liquidate and distribute the account until that time has passed. </p>
<p>States also have laws that estates not stay open too long, and beneficiaries can petition the probate court to have the estate closed and distributed. Cause must be shown regarding why this is not done. </p>
<p>Find out the law that applies to you, and follow it. These things are facts, not matters of opinion. Use google to find some things out, and go see an attorney who knows what he’s doing. Usually if there’s a will there was an attorney involved at some point.</p>
<p>I didn’t take a fee for that reason and I was lucky to have a wonderful sister to deal with. We also made use of a great attorney and CPA. My parents’ financial adviser was also a wonderful help.</p>
<p>I received 4 months of physical therapy about a year ago. Figured was paid by insurance. Couple of months ago, got billed for my portion of the bills out of the blue for 2 of those months. Not sure whether I will be getting more yet.</p>
<p>I am a physician and one of my partners left our practice over a year ago. We are still getting paid for work done by that partner over a year ago. </p>
<p>Give medical bills at least a year to work through the system.</p>
<p>I have been named in a will in the past year, but my cousin is the executor. He told me that I was named in the will and was very secretive about how I was named. Anyway, I was not expecting anything, so I just waited until I got a copy of the will sent from the estate lawyer.
The estate needed to wait for medical bills to clear and the lawyer ran the newspaper ads for debtors. There were a couple of accounts, personal effects, and a condo. The executor approved a partial dispersement in January ( they died last May), but money was set aside to maintain the condo until it sells. I always just figured that the lawyer was telling my cousin what to do and I try to not ask questions.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of the comments I am amazed by all of the replies. Thank you for all of the suggestions and support. This is so difficult, I really need it. I may need to get an attorney but we don’t have one. The will was made many years ago in another state and names me as the executor. My mom had no property she had moved and sold her home prior to her death. She had no credit cards and was not a spender so I would be shocked if I found hidden debt from that angle. I therefore wonder if there is any reason for a newspaper ad as some of you have suggested. There is no estate account but I have considered opening one and I have been weighing the cost and the benefit. We aren’t going though probate or at least haven’t as yet. All of her accounts had beneficiaries and I have been told that the banks have to distribute this money as ordered. I was the sole in state family member and had power of attorney during her illness and up until the time of her death. She was a month away from coming off of Part A Medicare services when she became fatally ill and died within 2 weeks. At the time I had transferred funds into our one joint account because I was preparing to have funds to pay for either the nursing home or assisted living costs that we were about to incur. This account is therefore in my name but I know that the intent was for the funds to be divided. This is the account I am holding onto for bill paying. I haven’t researched it carefully but I have been told that bills can be issued for 5 years in our state. I am as sure as I can be that there aren’t any monies owed except to the medical facilities and of course her 2013 taxes. She had both supplemental and catastrophic insurance so there is some safety net to catch costs not paid by Medicare. I am wondering how one even knows of all the people in a hospital who have a right to bill. I was there for most of her care but still there are so many people behind the scenes that I probably never met. The best answer I have been able to come up with is by review of the medical record. Does anyone know anything about that? The other question I have is that I have been told that medical providers must bill Medicare within a year of service in order for Medicare to pay the bill. But are Medicare providers obligated to bill within that time frame or are they able to submit a bill to me that Medicare and insurance will no longer cover because it is outside of their allowable time frame? I am baffled by the question of how much is reasonable to hold in light of all of the insurance she has. Up until my sibling and family added conditions to my request for a guarantee to repay funds if they are needed to pay bills when I considered distributing some of her funds I thought things would go smoothly.</p>
<p>A newspaper ad is required in our state.
If it is a simple will, I would probably consult an attorney just to get a proper list of what does need to be done.</p>
<p>You real need to consult an attorney. If your mom’s estate is relatively simple, the fees won’t be too high. Estate law is complex, and you can end up sued by other heirs (eg, your siblings) if you handle it incorrectly. Do not take ONE MORE STEP in this (no bills paid, etc) without meeting with an attorney. As gouf said, they will be able to help you sort through any court or tax filings that are needed, how to handle paying back the bills, etc. Do not wait on this.</p>
<p>I think you shoud get an attorney. Have the attorney in that state, one who specializes in these sort of things make the decisions. You should tell your siblings that you just do not feel that you know enough to handle this correctly and fairly and you don’t want any missteps occurring so you are getting a professional to hand all of this. If they want to argue about anything, they can discuss it with the attorney. That often puts the quash on a lot of the bullying. </p>
<p>So I would not just “consult” with an attorney, but have one be your face man on this so that it does not get on a personal issue. You want to do the right thing, and this way it is going to be done.</p>
<p>The newspaper ad is required here, too. I believe that virtually ALL estates are supposed to go through probate, although below a certain size there may be an expedited process in which an executor is not formally named. (That is the case in CT, for example.) I suggest that you review the information online in your state. In CT, at least, everything you need is clearly laid out in the state government website. I found the local probate court people to be extremely helpful also. Here is the CT site, just to illustrate:</p>
<p>It sounds as if the issue with your siblings may be that there was money in various accounts that had been set up to go to specific people upon her death, possibly avoiding probate on those assets, but before her death you moved money out of those accounts into the current one in anticipation of paying large nursing care bills? That would explain why your sibs think that the money should be distributed now.</p>
<p>I suggest that you need to inform yourself on the rules in your state and proceed accordingly in an orderly manner. If you do not appear to know what you are doing and talk about holding money for five years–which seems ridiculously long in this case–it will just fuel the fire. If you really are unable to glean the information you need from your state’s web site and/or the probate court, then hire an estate attorney on an advisory basis.</p>