Fiduciary

[susandennis]

When my cousin died last Summer, I learned how a trust works. His estate went into trust that was ruled by a lawyer. The directive was to divide the estate into thirds. I get two thirds, my cousin gets one third.

But, we can't go to the trustee's office with our hands out and pick up our thirds. There's a lot of stuff that has to happen. And in our case, the trustee lawyer has total control and those who inherit just sit and wait for him to do his thing. He gets to bill whatever hours he wants and is paid out of the estate before our thirds get divided. He has no one he has to report to. We are at his mercy.

I am not a fan of this.

BUT, if I died tomorrow, my brother would be in charge. He would have to navigate my bills, my accounts, and what to do with the condo and all my shit and how to do all that. My estate is dirt simple and still, who the heck knows what has to be done legally. He can't see the condo, for instance before it's in my name. He can't just flash the death certificate and will and magically claim ownership.

He and I thought the missing piece was an estate lawyer but, I learned this morning, that it is, in fact, a executor or estate fiduciary. The lawyer I talked to (and hired) said I might consider naming one to execute my estate. BUT after doing some research into the ones she recommended, I think I'm not going to do that BUT, instead leave the list for my brother and let him hire the one he wants to handle all the stuff.

The lawyer pointed out that a fiduciary does, in fact, charge by the hour but has all the experience and efficiency that makes it well worth it.

And that was just what I got in the first 10 minutes which were free! I agreed to hire her and she's going to send me stuff for info gathering.

So. That's all done. My intestines have righted themselves. Heck on a stick, we might even win the game today!

Comments

[wpadmirer]

Pat and I have wills, but we own jack, so it's not a big issue. I made our unofficially adopted daughter the executor in my will, because she's been through estate crap previously and knows how to deal with it. Pat would be overwhelmed. But I'm the executor of his estate, but I also inherit his estate. So it shouldn't be too bad - since my name is on the car title, and otherwise there's nothing to own.

[mollywheezy]

I've been the executor of an estate before and if I had had any clue what a PITA that would be, I probably would have said no. I had a very steep learning curve! It did teach me what I need to do to have things in order for our executor, though.

[days_unfolding]

I'm going to have a possible wrangle with my mom's friend Deanna because she's the executor according to the will, but I've been paying all the bills and need to get the house fixed. Deanna put me in touch with my mom's financial advisor, so I'm not sure what she thinks that she's going to do.

[mtbc]

Goodness, it sounds more fuss than I faced under English law. In my mother's will, I was named executor, I mailed the will and the death certificate to the probate court to get a nice document from them asserting that I act for the estate, then I just waved it at people who gave me control of things, even letting me sell her house. I'm certainly glad it was fairly easy or, under the circumstances, I'd definitely have wanted to have engaged a professional.

[mtbc]

Well, I probably supplied some ID too. (-: Here's hoping your cousin's estate gets resolved eventually. I wonder what all the things are that the trustee lawyer has to do. I suppose maybe there's a bit of necessary waiting in case of late claims arising against the estate. (E.g., I checked through my mother's paperwork and found that an electrician still needed paid, etc. God bless her for being a lifelong book-keeper, her home finances were excellently recorded and filed.)

[rsc]

When we updated our wills and financial and power-of-attorney arrangements this past fall, the lawyer advised us to put all our assets in a living revocable trust (a process that we have not quite completed) because it would allow the survivor to avoid probate, thereby saving much time and hassle in the settlement of the estate. These things vary from state to state, so perhaps that's not an issue in Washington.

I also got my brother off the hook as backup executor (a job he never wanted, and would have been a hassle for him since he lives in another state, and is older than I am anyway) and instead we designated the law office that did all our paperwork on the assumption that the firm would be in existence in perpetuity.