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Assent Forms, Beneficiaries, Beneficiary Rights, Common Estates, Communicating, Communicating with Beneficiaries, Details of the Estate, estate, Executor Rights, Final Accounting, Poll Beneficiaries, Polls, Reading of the Will, Sharing Details of the Estate, Will
When communicating with beneficiaries, executors should use common sense. To have a smooth administration the executor should communicate regularly with the beneficiaries as revealed in the article Communicating with the Beneficiaries is Essential for the Executor. However, when it comes to sharing details of the estate, the executor should use common sense. Otherwise, sharing too many details with the beneficiaries may cause confusion and turmoil in the estate.
Information to Share with Beneficiaries
While communicating with beneficiaries as a group, the executor should be as general as possible. Although beneficiaries have the right to information on the estate, they don’t have the right to know what the other beneficiaries are to receive from the estate. Therefore, the executor has the right to decide what details to share with each beneficiary and when. So, in regular communications with beneficiaries, the executor should limit information to the following:
- The phase the executor is currently working on in the estate such as the asset collection phase or distribution phase.
- To share the progress of the estate with the beneficiaries.
- Alert beneficiaries to any forms they will need to sign such as assent forms.
- Let beneficiaries know when distribution checks will arrive.
- Ask beneficiaries for personal information such as contact information and addresses.
- Set ground rules for the estate such as contacting the executor instead of estate attorney.
Basically, the executor should share only the details that affect every beneficiary the same in regular communications.
The Details to Share and not to Share
In common estates, some beneficiaries have professional experience in areas where an executor may need some help. To save the estate some money, it would be wise for the executor to ask such a beneficiary for help. In the area of concern, the executor will need to share details of the estate, but only for that part of the estate.
Conversely, if the executor wants to avoid complete mayhem in the estate, the executor should avoid sharing the following details:
- The executor should avoid updating any beneficiary of the value of the estate until the final accounting.
- When the executor has to make a tough decision, the executor should never poll beneficiaries as to what they think the decision should be.
- The executor should avoid telling beneficiaries the exact property they will receive if listed in the will. If the executor has to sell that property later in the administration, the beneficiary will most likely become belligerent. However, if there is a reading of the will or the beneficiary has a copy of the will, this may be unavoidable.
- In regular communications, avoid pointing out the belligerent or disgruntled beneficiary, if any, involved in a dispute.
Executors Should Use Common Sense
In the end, applying common sense as to how much detail a beneficiary needs is important for the executor. The executor is not required to share every detail of the estate with the beneficiaries until the final accounting. Therefore, executors should use common sense and share details with each beneficiary on a need-to-know basis. Otherwise, the executor could experience a chaotic estate administration.
Was this article insightful? Can you think of other details that could cause mayhem in an estate? Share your comments or questions in the comment area below.
My trust shows no contact information for beneficiaries. Shouldn’t this I be SOP?
Hi Ned,
I haven’t read a will or trust document that gave information about beneficiaries other than their names. So, in my experience, just providing the names seems to be the SOP. However, in the estates I administered, the beneficiaries were all family, which is the case in most small estates. I don’t know this for sure, but the reason contact information isn’t shared in Trusts or Wills is that these documents become public record. So, to protect the privacy of the beneficiaries, demographic information concerning the beneficiaries is left out of the documents.
I hope this helps.
Robert
How much detail do the beneficiaries (especially once becoming hostile) have a “right” to? As in if they are requesting documents/info that isn’t really part of the estate probate or not required by the register of wills (and without any good reason, just because they want it) ? Do they have some kind of right to demand this info or direct how the estate should be handled (I’m the executor) and can get in some kind of trouble for not complying with their “demands”? (Assume they have after over a year of probate all of the usual documentation, i.e. bank statements, receipts and invoices, estimates etc.
Going nuts over their harrassment, please help!
Larry
Hi Larry,
The amount of information you release to the beneficiaries during a formal probate is up to you. As a practical matter, I wouldn’t release any information that you wouldn’t release to all beneficiaries. Otherwise, you’re creating bias which may cause belligerence with other beneficiaries. In Massachusetts, a beneficiary is entitled to see all the information, but only with the final accounting. So, as long as the estate administration is still active, you don’t have to give any information. To close the estate, the beneficiaries will have to approve the final accounting and that’s when you have to give them the information. Basically, they have to approve your work.
In my experience, the only time I gave information to a beneficiary while administering the estate is when I needed their help on part of the estate. In that situation, you need to give information only on that portion of the estate in which the beneficiary will provide help, nothing more. In terms of beneficiaries harassing you, I used stalling tactics like, “It’s too early in the administration to release information. I will contact you when the information is ready”. And, that statement is true. Typically, all the information in the final accounting involves all expenses, taxes, debts, and distributions. Until all that activity has been completed, the information wouldn’t be any use to anyone. Anyway, rest assure that you are in no trouble by refusing information to the beneficiaries before the final account is completed.
I hope this helps.
Robert