Taxation & Estate Planning

Closing a Probate Estate, Part 1

By Joel A. Schoenmeyer

I wanted to discuss, in a few parts, what happens when the administration of a probate estate is completed. How is a probate estate officially closed out?

Note that this analysis only applies if the estate is in what's called "independent administration," which most Illinois estates are. This means there is very little court supervision; basically, the court is happy if the beneficiaries are happy.

Where do we start? With information being provided to the beneficiaries. The personal representative should have been doing this all along, just to keep them happy (and should have been keeping good records of his or her actions). If that's the case, providing information will be a snap. The personal representative will give each beneficiary:

1. A final report, which is a document signed by the personal representative stating that all aspects of the probate are complete (all claims and taxes paid, all distributions made, etc. etc.); and

2. An accounting. This needn't be formal; or, rather, it should be as formal as the beneficiaries want it to be. An accountant or an attorney can prepare this, or the personal representative can do it on his or her own to save money.

In Part 2 (on Thursday), I'll explain what is needed from the beneficiaries.

Full post as published by Death and Taxes Blog on April 14, 2009 (boomark / email).