The more information you have, the better. But you don't need any of this information to probate the Will. You just need the original Will (which the law firm that prepared the Will will probably have), and the names and addresses of the beneficiaries and the persons who would take absent a Will, and at least in New York a rough estimate of the value of the estate.Are you prepared to locate and reimburse an attorney in each respective state to take the wills and associated estates through probate? Have your two friends provided you with printouts of all their non-financial assets, house deeds, financial account locations, amounts, account numbers etc. to assure you they have sufficient funds to reimburse your expenses? This info will be needed for probate in any event.
Have they each given you signed and notarized copies of their wills, which you will need for probate, so you can tell, our pay an attorney to tell you, if there are any impracticalities in their wills that cannot be implemented, or adverse treatment of expected beneficiaries that are likely to raise dislike among family members or or even lawsuits against the wills?
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The legal fees are payable out of the estate. The lawyer you hire will probably want you to advance a small amount to get started and to cover the court filing fees, but you can reimburse yourself out of the estate once the Will is admitted to probate and you gain control over the assets.
Most executors who are not family members take their commissions (fees). In New York, it's a sliding scale: 5% on the first $100,000, 4% on the next $200,000, 3% on the next $700,000, 2.5% on the next $4 million, and 2% above $5 million....
1) Discuss if you would take a fee or not. Certainly want to cover any out of pocket expense you will incur. You will have to travel to the jurisdiction almost definitely.
2) Make sure the principal has (or will) tell the beneficiaries who you are and that you will be the executor, particularly any family. You really want to try and avoid them contesting your service (as well as other aspects of the will).
3) I would not have a major heartburn selling a co-op in NYC, but a farm is a different beast. Much more difficult to understand and get true value if he insists it be sold.
4) Discuss personal property. Most of us die with what instantly becomes junk. ...
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ETA: Make sure that the will includes that you will not need to take out a bond to serve as executor (or at least that the estate will pay the bond up front.) Also (since I am NOT a fan of trying do 'everything' via POD/TOD) the probate estate will have enough $ to cover all the expected liabilities (plus a little more.) ....
You can hire a broker to find a buyer for the apartment or farm, and you can hire a lawyer to handle the sale.
Almost every Will waives a bond. If a bond is required, it's an expense of the estate.
TOD designations on taxable accounts can easily create chaos, especially as you point out if it leaves the estate without enough money to pay the debts, expenses, taxes and preresiduary bequests. For many years that was rarely an issue, but in recent years we've had a few estate plans that were defeated by probably unintended TOD designations. We still only see TOD designations in a small percentage of our estates, but it may be worth reminding the friends to make sure not to have them. You'll want to find out if that will be an issue before deciding whether to serve.
You would hire a broker to market the property. You'll get what someone is willing to pay. You would then hire a lawyer for the contract and closing.In that situation once, I told the person that if I was the executor of their estate hundreds of miles away, I would have to pick a lawyer in their town and basically accept whatever they can get for the property. ...
Statistics: Posted by bsteiner — Mon May 27, 2024 9:10 pm