Does An Executor of a Will Get Paid for His Time?
Video Summary
Does an executor of a Will receive pay or are they entitled to be paid? The answer is yes. Under our Florida statute, it provides that the executor presume a reasonable fee is 3% of the assets of the estate. Also, when dealing with executors, particularly with small estates, that may be complicated, I suggest they keep track of their time rather than trying to rely on the 3% because that may not adequately compensate them for what’s involved as far as researching matters and then have them compensated for whatever time they spend on that. And depending on what jurisdiction you are in or what county you’re in, is what hourly rate would be justified for their efforts. As far as serving as the executor and whatever the fee is, is also up to the beneficiary. Since any beneficiary who’s receiving a residual portion of the estate bears the impact of the fee, it’s subject to the beneficiaries objecting to it. So many times, if the executor is also a beneficiary of the estate, they would waive that. Since it’s taxable income, since they’ll be receiving it, the money has a beneficiary of the estate. So if you have any questions about it, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Videos, Wills
Do Wills Have to Be Probated?
Video Summary
Do Wlls have to be probated? The question of whether or not there’s probate or not is whether or not they died with assets in their name without a beneficiary. If there are assets that are in the decedent’s name and don’t have a beneficiary such as real estate their home, then yes, the will has to be probated and that the will directs who the beneficiary of the estate will be and moreover indicates who the executor or personal representative would be in order to administer the estate and give notice to creditors and complete the administration of the estate. If you have any questions about probate or your Will, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
How Can I Find Bank Accounts in My Parents’ Names After They Die?
Video Summary
How can I find bank accounts that were in my parents’ name after they pass away? Usually, the personal representative goes through their records to see if they can’t find account statements or any evidence of any these accounts in this day and time of electronic accounts and everything being paperless. Then you may wish to go through their computer and hopefully get their password to be able to check their computer to get electronic assets access to these bank accounts, or to be able to identify them. If you don’t have those resources or you can’t do that, or you haven’t identified any and you’re convinced that they had bank accounts or stock accounts, then you can employ a private investigator or an asset research firm to do a nationwide search for assets that were titled in their name, either in a brokerage account or bank accounts or whatever assets they own. Those searches usually run in the neighborhood of about 2,500 to $3,000 or maybe $3,500. If you have any questions, give me a call to (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Videos
Probate Lawyer Vs Estate Planning Attorney What’s The Difference?
Video Summary
Probate lawyers versus estate Planning lawyers. What is the difference? Well, let’s talk about estate planning. Lawyers first, estate planning lawyers are employed while you’re alive, and they do the planning for whenever you do pass away. They can plan your estate through a trust a will. Most of the time, whenever I speak with my clients, as far as estate planning’s concerned, they wish to try and plan their estate to avoid probate. A probate lawyer is the one that is employed by your executor or trustee to assist in the administration of the estate or the probate proceeding and or the administration of the Trust, so they are employed by your personal representative or heirs. And in order to probate your estate and distribute your assets after the payment of creditors after your death, so one, the estate planning lawyer is employed while you’re alive to plan your estate, the probate lawyer follows the plan and is employed after your death to administer the estate and distribute your assets to your beneficiaries. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
How Can I Find a Will?
Video Summary
How can I find a Will? Well, whenever someone passes away, I usually recommend that the children or the personal representative of the decedent go through the records of the decedent to see if they can’t find a copy of the Trust. Hopefully the people did prepare one, but they’re not filed with the clerk of the court. So you look through the records of the decedent to see if you can’t locate the original Will. If there is an original Will, and whoever has it is supposed to file it with the clerk of the court and whatever county the decedent passed away in Florida. And then once it’s filed, it is public record, and anyone can access it by contacting the clerk of the court. Also, if you believe that there is a Will and however the person has not filed a probate proceeding, you can contact an attorney and file what they call a caveat so you’re notified if they in fact file a petition to have the Will admitted to probate. Sometimes, wills are not filed with the court and all the assets are jointly held or all the assets have beneficiaries. If you have any questions, give me a call to (727) 847-2288.