After updating the estate account and completing the final Inventory of Assets, it was time to complete the final accounting. As mentioned in the article Closing an Estate in a Formal Probate Process, the attorney sent me three schedules that made up the final account. With instructions to review the schedules, I began to look them over. During the review, the schedules were already organized by category. Additionally, provided values, presumably by the attorney, were on Schedule A and Schedule B. Since the attorney warned me that values would appear, this didn’t concern me. Also, although the categories surprised me a little, the attorney would explain the categories the next day. So, after my review, the task to complete the final accounting was ready to begin.  

Attempting to Complete the Final Accounting

On September 13, 2013, the day after receiving the three schedules, I called the attorney for further instructions. On the call, the attorney gave me the following guidelines:

• The schedules provided were from a previous estate. 
• Start Schedule A by plugging in the grand total from the final Inventory of Assets into Schedule A.
• On the schedules there are categories. Plug in values from the estate account into the appropriate schedule under the correct category. The category names can change to accommodate the estate activity. 
• Use your first attempt at a zero balance as a draft. If the numbers are way off, we’ll review the schedules together.
• Some of the numbers provided on the schedules relate to the sale of the rental property.
• When the final account balances, send the completed schedules and we’ll go over the next steps.

Immediately after the call, I began some setup work to simplify the process. Using my Quicken account to track estate activity, I set up an Income and Expense report by category as mentioned in the article Creating an Income and Expense Report for the Final Accounting. After printing the report, completing Schedule A was quick and easy. Since most of the information for Schedule A was in the final Inventory of Assets, the following income items remained:    

• Dividend Income
• Interest Income
• Rental Income
• Insurance Credits
• Tax Refunds
• Credit Rebates

After quickly finishing Schedule A, Schedule B involved more work. Because Schedule B needed to account for every expense of the estate, it would take more time to complete. So, wasting no time, that same night, I began working on Schedule B.

Human Error Stalls the Final Accounting

The night of September 15, 2013 was a horror show.  With Schedule B completed along with the first draft of the final accounting, the results were awful. The final account was off by tens of thousands and was very discouraging. So, the next day I called the attorney and said, “The final account is off by thousands and I am not sure what went wrong. However, I want to start by asking you to look at the numbers you plugged into the schedules. Could you check those numbers for me?”

The attorney replied, “Sure, email me the schedules and I will review the numbers. I will get back to you shortly.”

After the conversation, it took all of ten minutes to hear back from the attorney. The attorney called back and said, “I found part of the problem. Some of the numbers provided aren’t part of this estate; the numbers belong to a past estate. Remove the highlighted numbers and try to balance again. Let me know if this helps.”

I replied, ”Oh, this does help. Obviously, there was something awfully wrong and I didn’t know where to start. I never thought to check the numbers provided or to ask you about them while looking over the schedules.”

The attorney replied, “Sorry, I thought you would notice that the numbers didn’t belong. Forget this oversight and continue on.”

I replied, “I will. Thanks for your help.”

Immediately after the call, I removed the old numbers from the schedules. The difference came down to forty dollars and change. Feeling relieved, I was confident that my bookkeeping system and my record keeping system would help me solve the discrepancy.

Overcoming another Human Error and Hidden Bank Fees to Complete the Final Accounting

The next night, on September 16, 2013, with renewed energy, I began hunting for the discrepancy using my bookkeeping system. The process began by going through the monthly reports generated each month. Shortly into my review, another human error became apparent. Regarding a transaction in the month of March 2013, I copied the wrong amount from the Income and Expense report into Schedule A. After correcting the entry, the discrepancy was down to four dollars.  

With a difference of four dollars remaining, my instincts told me that bank fees may be the culprit. In the article Track the Bank Fees in the Bank Statements, banks can charge annual fees on recently closed accounts. So, using my record keeping system, I reviewed bank statements received in January 2013. So, beginning with the January statements for Bank of America, I found the discrepancy. Apparently, maintenance fees for two accounts that were property of the estate charged annual maintenance fees. After reviewing the reports to make sure those fees were not already accounted for, I updated Schedule B. Finally, after two nights of hunting for errors, on September 19, 2013, the final account balanced.

One Step Closer to Closing the Estate

After balancing the final account, I quickly sent the three completed schedules to the attorney in an email. The following day, the attorney sent me an email congratulating me on balancing the final account. In addition, the attorney gave me suggestions on cleaning up the schedules. So, when the attorney sent me the schedules, I immediately polished them up and sent them back. The attorney approved of the changes and gave me the following next steps:

• Each beneficiary will receive a copy of the final Inventory of Assets and the final account under the cover of an assent form. The signing of the assent form indicates that the beneficiaries approve of the documents and the release of the executor.  
• To effectively close the estate, each beneficiary must sign and return the assent forms.  
• After receiving all the assent forms, complete the final distribution as listed in the final account.

Since the attorney would handle the assent form process, all I could do was wait. Although feeling anxious, I also felt confident that the task to complete the final accounting was finally over. 

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