Letters of Testamentary?

[yankeed]

NJ..Father passed, had a self-proven class A Will. Went to surrogate court with will, gave me "an executor docket" Letter of Testamentary. What exactly does this mean? There are three children, with all to be divided equally. There is no real estate, only a few small life insurance policies, some cd's, and a money market account. Total approx 120M. I am the executor, and am dividing the monies as they come in. Am I doing the right thing? Surrogate court said, all I have to do is make sure his income taxes and bills are paid? Does this mean everything is closed? Is there anything I have to report, or to anyone? I am getting very confused. I don't want to do the wrong thing. I might mention here, that my father lived me with for the past 10 years, so his belongings are in my possession.

 

[advisor10]

APRIL 26, 2001

DEAR YANKEED:

The Letters Testamentary are official papers that give you legal permission to act in the decedent's behalf (to collect their money from the banks, etc., and to handle the other affairs of the estate).

Please stop dividing the monies as they come in! You need to open a bank account specifically for the estate monies only, so that a record of deposits and expenditures can be established. It was an honest mistake, but it may not be too late to be corrected.

It is also possible that you might be required to purchase an inexpensive "executor's bond" insurance premium. One of your duties will be to provide an accounting of all assets, adding them up, and then paying all expenses, and then you divide up what is left over and distribute the checks to the heirs. The estate is closed after you have submitted all of your paperwork to the probate court for approval.


With the value of this estate being $120,000, it would really be worth it for you to hire the services of a probate/estate attorney. They know all the procedures to follow (it's really just a matter of filling out paperwork, in addition to paying debts and funeral expenses and taxes), but you also must place an ad in the newspaper to notify creditors and there may be a special tax form to fill out for estates. There are procedures to be followed that the average person is not aware of (and it's a shame that courts don't provide this information to the public, to help make the job of being an executor a little bit easier).

You will need to decide if the CD's should be retained at the bank until the future maturity date to be cashed in then, or whether you want them cashed in now (in which case there will be a penalty fee deducted).

You should also check out a couple of books from the library about the subject of probate, or executor's responsibilities, or wills to get better informed of what is involved.

SINCERELY,

[email protected]

 

[yankeed]

Yes, thank you,I understand what your saying, but the 120M, I believe is not included in the "estate?", The CD's were made Payable on death, to me-the executor. Also, Money Market acc I am joint owner. There was also 1 insurance policy which named me specifically as beneficiary. Of course, I will abide by Fathers wishes to share these equally. But will I have a problem (taxes, etc) with that. The others, such as some stock,(6M) which is transferred in my name, several small ins policies(7M). My father died from "mesothelioma". Most of these monies were paid to him as retroactive compensation. Is this going to be a problem? I have taken care of his income tax,paid medical, funeral, and outstanding bills. I have opened and "estate account" for a paper trail.I believe most of the work is done. Am I delusional? Or am I done? Brother and sister could use some of these monies. Proceed or not? Thanks again, for any advice. It really is appreciated...

[Edited by yankeed on 05-02-2001 at 09:58 AM]