As expected, the post by Dud Don is incorrect. Lets look at the ways he is WRONG!!
"You can present a copy of your letters testamentary to the bank and they will release the monies to you in a check."
*** Gee, and he doesn't tell you what you have to do to get the 'letters testamentary' does he. A 'letter testamentary' is a document issued by the court clerk which states the authority of the executor of an estate of a person who has died. It is issued during probate of the estate as soon as the court approves the appointment of the executor named in the will and the executor files a security bond if one is necessary (most well-drafted wills waive the need for a bond). Certified copies of the letters are often required by banks and other financial institutions, the federal government, stock transfer agents or other courts before transfer of money or assets to the executor of the estate.
Simply, this is NOT available until after the estate has been entered into probate.
"You can call the local stock brokerages in your area to inquire by giving the decedent's SSN to see if they have an account with that brokerage"
*** And guess what?? That would be in violation of federal law (15 USC 6821). This Code prohibits ANYONE from obtaining or attempting to obatin someone elses financial information by using deception.
"(a) Prohibition on obtaining customer information by false pretenses
It shall be a violation of this subchapter for any person to obtain or attempt to obtain, or cause to be disclosed or attempt to cause to be disclosed to any person, customer information of a financial institution relating to another person -
(1) by making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to an officer, employee, or agent of a financial institution;
(2) by making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to a customer of a financial institution; or
(3) by providing any document to an officer, employee, or agent of a financial institution, knowing that the document is forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen, was fraudulently obtained, or contains a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation."
Source:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15/6821.html
"or check her mail--she should soon be receiving Form 1099's from the IRS (similar to W2's) regarding dividends paid on her stock"
*** The IRS doesn't send out 1099's. They are sent out by the payer!!
"and the Form 1099 will show the name and address of the company holding her stock."
*** Sort of. The 1099 will only show that the accountholder has an account with them that paid dividends. It will NOT tell you anything about what stocks, bonds, etc.
"You don't need to call the creditors unless you just want to do that. You first need to wait and see how much cash you will have available to pay any outstanding debts. It is assumed that the creditors will see the notice of the probate filing in the newspaper and supposedly they will be mailing you, as executor, a copy of any outstanding bill for payment."
*** No!!! If you are appointed 'personal representative' of the estate, you have an OBLIGATION to notify the creditors that you know of (in researching the estate) and to ask for complete accounting. This is done so that you can determine the FULL debts of the testator.
"If there is not enough money left in the estate to pay bills, then the bills will unfortunately have to remain unpaid and will be later written off as bad debts."
*** The correct response should have been assets, not money. Money only indicates cash. In fact, ANY assets of the estate must be used to 'close the estate' (pay all decedents debts), until those assets are exhausted.
Do as I suggested and review the information at:
http://courts.co.calhoun.mi.us/notes000.htm
It should answer most of your questions. IF you have other specific ones, come back here and a QUALIFIED member (hopefully NOT 'Dud Don') will try to help.
