Nov 24, 2021

Think it’s over? Even when most of probate is complete, the executor must hold a reserve.

Why keep a reserve?

Think of it as a rainy-day fund: An amount of money that the executor holds on to in order to pay unexpected expenses. Even after more than a year, unexpected things pop up - even with experienced attorneys...

Nov 17, 2021

Should executors send funds by check or wire? This could apply to expenses or payments to the heirs at the end. As a professional executor, I’ll explain why we almost never send wires, only checks.

Successful checks vs wires

If everything goes well, wire transfers are faster (even faster than overnight checks). Wires...

Nov 10, 2021

Waiting for tax clearance is often the biggest delay in closing an estate. We’ll explain why tax clearance is so important and why it takes so long.

Why tax clearance is so important

No one wants IRS problems under any circumstances. In estates, the IRS is a top priority creditor. They need to get paid before anyone...

Nov 3, 2021

About six months ago, the court chose a court-appointed stranger for “Ms. H.,” a lovely solo ager who has named me executor in her will. In this episode, we are going to check in and see what’s happened since then.

To refresh, Ms. H. is unmarried with no kids and is somewhat estranged from her nieces and nephews....