Designating Beneficiaries Using Per Stirpes or Per Capita

02 Monday Oct 2017

Posted by Robert Dowling in Beneficiaries

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Alternate Beneficiary, Assets, Beneficiaries, Descendants, Designated Beneficiaries, Designating Beneficiaries, Distribution, Estate Plan, Per Capita, Per Stirpes, Primary Beneficiary, Residuary Beneficiary, Will

In your estate plan, properly designating beneficiaries is equally important as choosing your beneficiaries. As inferred in the article Considerations for Choosing Your Beneficiaries, choosing additional beneficiaries to designate as alternate beneficiaries in the event a primary beneficiary predeceases you would help in avoiding unintended consequences. However, there are two additional beneficiary designations available to consider in such a situation: per stirpes and per capita.

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Closing the Estate: Send Assent Forms to Close the Estate

24 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by Robert Dowling in Estate

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Assent Forms, Attorney, Attorney General, Belligerent Beneficiary, Beneficiary, Close the Estate, Distribution, estate, estate account, Estate Resesrve, Executor, Final Account, Final Accounting, Final Distribution, Inventory of Assets, Massachusetts Probate Court

On October 1, 2013, after completing the final accounting, it was time to get approval to close the estate. As mentioned in the article Closing the Estate: Complete the Final Accounting, the attorney would send assent forms along with the final Inventory of Assets and the Final Account to each beneficiary. If the beneficiaries approved of both documents, they would sign and return the assent form. Moreover, if all assent forms returned signed, this would allow me to start the closing process. Otherwise, any beneficiary wanting to contest the Final Account would notify the attorney of their intentions. So, sending the assent forms for approval from the beneficiaries was really a referendum on the estate administration. As a result, this was an anxious time for me as an executor.

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Closing an Estate in a Formal Probate Process

19 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by Robert Dowling in Probate

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Assent Forms, Attorney, Beneficiaries, Common Estates, Distribution, Estates, Executor, Final Account, Final Distribution, Formal Probate Process, Informal Closing, Inventory of Assets, Partial Distribution, Probate Court, Schedule A, Schedule B, Schedule C, Simplified Probate Process

When closing an estate, some states that use a formal probate process, allow for an informal closing for common estates. These states simplified the probate process for estates that are straightforward; not complicated or contested. Fortunately, Massachusetts is one of those states. In Massachusetts, closing an estate using the simplified probate process involves the following tasks:

Complete a final Inventory of Assets.
Using the Inventory of Assets in the final accounting, complete the final accounting.
Under cover of an assent form, send copies of the Inventory of Assets and the final accounting to each beneficiary.
After receiving the signed assent forms from each beneficiary, the executor must sign the form called Account (MPC853). The signed Account form, with the original Inventory of Assets and final accounting attached, essentially closes the estate.
Make the final distribution to the beneficiaries.

In Massachusetts, the simplified probate process allows straightforward, common estates to avoid the probate court when closing an estate. Instead, the approval of the Inventory of Assets and final accounting from all the beneficiaries informally closes the estate.

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Handling Found Property from a Different Estate

27 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by Robert Dowling in Estate

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Attorney, Beneficiaries, Common Estates, Distribution, Distribution Plan, Estate Administration, Estates, Executor, Forgotten Assets, Found Property, Holographic Will, Inventory of Assets, personal possessions, Property

In some common estates, executors may find themselves in unique situations such as handling found property from a different estate. Early in the estate administration, while sorting through possessions, my Uncle’s stepdaughter found a large, bulky envelope. In the envelope was a blue topaz ring and fifty-four hundred dollars in cash. As the stepdaughter handed me the property, I asked, “Where did you find this?”

The stepdaughter replied, “I found the envelope” – as she looked towards a box – “on top of the box near the stairs.”

So, I quickly went over to the box to sort through the contents. The box contained property and documents associated with the estate of my Uncle’s cousin in which my Uncle served as executor. Apparently, the cash and the ring were the contents of the cousin’s safe deposit box. Moreover, my Uncle forgot to include the property in the cousin’s estate for distribution before closing the estate. So, confused about how to handle the property, I put the matter aside until I could discuss the dilemma with my attorney.

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How an Executor Distributes 1099 Income as a Nominee

22 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by Robert Dowling in Taxes

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Beneficiary, Distribution, Estate Income Tax, Executor, Form 1099, Information Returns, Nominee, Nominee Distribution

An executor becomes a nominee when the estate receives a 1099 showing income for the entire year and a part of that income belongs to other parties. In the article How to Report 1099 Income on the Final Return, the “Nominee Distribution” represents the earned income after death. Therefore, excluding the nominee distribution from the final return becomes necessary because that income goes to the estate or to the beneficiaries. As a result, the executor becomes the nominee and must distribute the income labelled nominee distribution to the rightful owners. Otherwise, the executor will face fines for non compliance.
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Tag Archives: Distribution

Designating Beneficiaries Using Per Stirpes or Per Capita

Closing the Estate: Send Assent Forms to Close the Estate

Closing an Estate in a Formal Probate Process

Handling Found Property from a Different Estate

How an Executor Distributes 1099 Income as a Nominee