need to administer an estate?
what is estate administration?
Estate administration refers to the process of wrapping up the financial affairs of a person who dies. Depending on how the decedent's assets are titled, one or more of the following steps will be involved:
- Probate: the court-supervised process of transferring assets from a decedent's personal name to the heirs.
- Trust Administration: the process of carrying out the terms of a trust; i.e., managing trust property until distribution to the beneficiaries.
- Estate Settlement: the process of closing out a decedent's financial affairs when a probate is unnecessary and there is no trust involved.
how does a lawyer help?
I provide a complete array of services to trustees and personal representatives who face the daunting task of administering a trust or probate for a loved one. These services include:
- Determine what action is required and when.
- Notify heirs and beneficiaries pursuant to Arizona law.
- Prepare real estate deeds.
- Draft letters to financial institutions and governmental agencies.
- Advise family regarding burial or cremation arrangements.
- Meet with accountant and financial advisor regarding tax and investment issues.
- Draft and submit probate documents, affidavits, and certifications.
- Answer practical questions regarding the estate settlement process.
do you handle everything?
Of course not. I'm a lawyer, so I will provide counsel regarding legal and tax aspects but rely on you to carry out many details. The administration process works best when we work together and communicate often.
how are you different than other lawyers?
My approach is systematic, comprehensive, and efficient. This achieves the following benefits:
- No hourly billing: You will not be billed for every phone call and e-mail.
- Fixed fees: Each service has a fixed fee, so you will not be surprised when a bill arrives.
- Organized: My organizational skills make it less likely that you will omit important tasks.
- Use of Technology: I use cutting-edge estate administration software programs instead of relying on traditional word processing forms and handwritten checklists.
- No paralegals: I have the time and desire to participate in the process rather than delegate tasks to a paralegal or legal assistant.
- No wasted effort: Depending on the situation, I eliminate unnecessary tasks in the process whenever possible.
what experience do you have?
First, you should know that there is a steep learning curve in this practice area. I can hardly imagine anyone who would willingly tackle this task on their own, without the guidance of an attorney who knows their way through the puzzle. There is no substitute for experience in estate administration.
Having said that, I worked for 5 years at a prominent Tucson law firm before leaving to establish my current practice in 2005. Instead of delegating tasks to paralegals and legal assistants, I handle them personally in order to provide the best possible service. In order to manage this workload, I seek continuous improvement of my systems and processes using cutting-edge technology whenever possible.
Although handling probates and trust administration is not as interesting as the process of planning an estate, it is probably my most important area of practice. It is impossible to do effective estate planning if one does not understand the details of estate administration. For this reason, I strive daily to become the most organized and knowledgeable estate attorney in Southern Arizona. This includes expertise handling informal probates, trust administration, and transfer of retirement accounts, life insurance, and annuities.
can you tell me more about probate?
At its core, probate involves the drafting and delivery of documents. Even a simple probate requires an overwhelming amount of paperwork. It's not hard to locate the forms. The hard part is knowing what forms to complete, how to complete them, who to send copies to, and maintain the perseverance to finish the process. It's like learning a new language. It took me several years to figure it all out and I handle probates regularly.
I rely on a highly sophisticated software system to complete probates, which is only available to Arizona probate attorneys. This system is necessary to keep track of all the time deadlines and bizarre legal requirements.
The duties of a Personal Representative in a standard probate can be described as follows:
- Initiate Probate and Appoint the Personal Representative: This requires a flurry of paperwork and data collection.
- Notice to Interested Parties: Probate rules instruct you to send out copies of many documents to family members and other beneficiaries:
- Manage Estate Assets: The primary task here is to inventory and appraise all probate assets.
- Process creditor claims: You will have to notify creditors about the probate and respond to claims.
- Distribute the estate: You will need to create a Proposal for Distribution, and then submit the documents to carry it out.
- Close the estate: At least 4 months after the probate begins, but usually 6 months or more, you can file a Closing Statement with the court.
can you tell me more about trust administration?
In general, the need for court involvement is eliminated, although there is still a great amount of work to do when administering a trust. Trust administration is private and usually faster than administering a probate. The complexity is usually proportionate to the size of the estate.
The duties of a Trustee in a standard trust administration can be described as follows:
- Protect and Secure Important Property: You are responsible for securing important property, including the decedent's home, cars, credit cards, computers, pets, mail, businesses, and estate planning documents.
- Gather Information about Decedent's Assets and Liabilities: You must gather the decedent's financial and property information in order to determine the complexity of the trust's administration. This often involves a good deal of "detective" work depending on how organized the decedent was. You must then review this information in the context of the decedent's estate planning documents and/or Arizona law to determine the best approach to settling the trust.
- Create Fiduciary Authority: Several documents must be collected or drafted to prove the trustee's authority to financial institutions and government agencies. Of course, this also gives you power to open and close accounts, settle debts, pay expenses, and file tax returns. You are also responsible for sending notices to beneficiaries as required by Arizona law.
- Determine the Beneficiaries and Method of Distribution: Your primary objective is to distribute trust assets to the proper beneficiaries. This requires you to interpret the trust agreement. In many cases the trust will instruct you to make outright distributions. However, in a growing percentage of trusts, you will need to distribute funds into irrevocable trusts for long-term management. If you are the surviving spouse, you may need to allocate the trust into several subtrusts. These tasks will be much easier with the assistance of a team of professional advisors: estate and trust attorney, accountant, and financial advisor. The attorney can instruct you how to proceed. The accountant may be engaged for the process of gathering, charting, and determining the character and value of each asset, as well as determining the applicable income and estate tax issues. The financial advisor can provide further advice regarding receipt of annuities, life insurance, and retirement accounts. In addition, the financial advisor can recommend a long-term investment strategy for the beneficiaries.
- Transfer Assets: After the payment of all expenses and taxes, you are ready to distribute each trust asset to the beneficiaries.
- Tax Returns: One of the most challenging steps for a trustee is coordinating the filing of tax returns, and of course, the payment of taxes owed. This is beyond the knowledge of most accountants and usually requires an accountant who specializes in estate and trust work.
I offer a full array of services to trustees as they navigate the various steps in administering a trust. Unless the trust administration is very simple, my approach is to walk the trustee through a series of meetings as follows:
- Organizational Meeting: This is the introductory meeting to answer practical questions regarding urgent matters such as organ donation, final arrangements, autopsy, care and custody of minor children, pets, death certificates, and mail forwarding. I will help you sort through paperwork in order to determine the decedent's assets and liabilities.
- Create Fiduciary Authority Meeting: This is the meeting where we choose whether a probate or full trust administration is necessary. You will sign documents that I prepare to establish your authority as trustee.
- Analyze & Plan Meeting: This meeting is generally reserved for me to speak with the accountant and financial advisor about substantive matters relating to the trust. In larger estates, this meeting requires a great deal of analysis to review legal and tax implications.
- Implement the Plan Meeting: I will help you complete and deliver the necessary documents (deeds, affidavits, account transfer documents, checks, etc.) to distribute each trust asset to the proper beneficiary.
- Confirmation & Wrap-Up Meeting: We will verify that all responsibilities have been taken care of. We will also review the estate planning needs of the beneficiaries as needed.
The Arizona Trust Code prescribes many rules and requirements when dealing with trusts. My highly systematic approach will help you avoid costly mistakes.
I rely on a highly sophisticated software system called Settlement Counsel to administer trusts. This provides a professional, consistent method to handling the tasks common to administering any trust without missing important details.
what are your fees to administer an estate?
Most trust administration and probate services are priced according to a Fixed Price Schedule, and billed in stages as the work is completed. I do not bill hourly. In other words, you will not be charged for every phone call and e-mail.
If I am formally appointed as trustee in a trust document, my fee is based on a percentage of trust assets in accordance with the standard practice of similar professional fiduciaries.
so can you be more specific?
Not really. Fees range from a few hundred dollars for very simple matters to tens of thousands of dollars for complicated matters. I can usually determine a fixed price after the first meeting.
do all estate planning attorneys settle estates?
No. Even law firms that say they provide estate administration services may not provide the level of service you need. They may not have the refined systematic approach that I use in my practice. Without good systems, a law firm must bill by the hour -- a habitual practice that benefits no one.
You should also know that most law firms delegate estate administration work to paralegals and legal assistants. It is work that many attorneys just don't want to do. At my law firm, there are no paralegals or legal assistants. I will personally help you every step of the way.
I love this area of work because it allows me to help people during a stressful time. Truly, it is meaningful and honorable work.
will you represent me in a contested probate matter?
No. I do not represent anyone in court-litigated matters. If necessary, I will refer you to someone who does.
Thomas J. Bouman, Attorney
Bouman Law Firm
7650 E. Broadway Blvd. #108
Tucson, AZ 85710
(520) 546-3558
