By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney
Making all the decisions about and creating an estate plan can be an intimidating and complex process for many people. One of the biggest decisions that must be made is who will be in charge of handling your estate for you after you pass away. This person is commonly known as a Personal Representative or Executor. The purpose of this blog is to give you some things to think about as you choose who your personal representative will be. Here are 4 things to consider when naming a Personal Representative in your will.
1. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING A PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE
While some people may consider being named as a personal representative an honor, which it is, it is actually much more of a responsibility. A personal representative will be required to accomplish a number of different tasks in order to properly distribute your estate including: possibly filing a probate action; dealing with your creditors; dealing with your relatives; filing necessary tax documents; and then finally distributing the assets from your estate. Often there are statutory timelines that must be followed and met and accomplishing these tasks. A personal representative also often has to work with an attorney in order to accomplish all the things necessary to distribute your estate.
2. THE ABILITY OF A PERSON TO BE A PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE
Given that the responsibilities of a personal representative are lengthy, not everyone has the ability mentally, emotionally and sometimes even intellectually to accomplish these things. In other words, some people may find the whole process of being a personal representative too overwhelming. You should also know that a person can reject the appointment of being a personal representative. Just because they are named as the personal representative in your will doesn’t mean that they are forced to accept that responsibility. So when you are considering who to name as your personal representative, it will be important for you to consider whether the person has the actual ability to accomplish what a personal representative is required to do.
3. THE TIME IT TAKES TO BE A PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE
The final thing to consider when choosing a personal representative is the time that is involved in accomplishing the responsibilities of handling an estate. For example it might be far easier to choose a person who is older and whose children are older rather than choosing a young mother who has four or five young children to take care of. This is an example of the practical differences between the time an individual may have available to them in order to accomplish the responsibilities of being a personal representative. Again, it doesn’t do you any good to consider naming somebody has a personal representative who simply does not have the time to take on that responsibility.
4. CREATE A PLAN OF SUCCESSION IN NAMING A PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE
As a bonus piece of advice, we cut we often encourage our clients to talk with individuals they are considering naming as their personal representative. If this is done before the estate plan is completed then the person who is named will not be surprised by that appointment. Also this gives that person an opportunity to determine for themselves whether or not they think they are capable and have the time necessary to accomplish what needs to be done.
In conjunction with this it is always wise to have a plan of succession for the individuals named as a personal representative. What I mean by this is rather than simply naming one individual and no others it is always wise to name your primary Choice and then to have a second and a third choice named as well. This is useful for a number of different reasons. First, if the person you’ve chosen as a personal representative either cannot or chooses not to accept that responsibility you still have a plan in place of individuals who can take that responsibility instead. This will save you the time and aggravation of having to change your will every time it appears the person you have chosen as your personal representative can no longer serve in that capacity.
If you have any questions about naming a personal representative in your will, we can help. Call us toll free at 877-232-6101 or 208-232-6101 for a consultation with Lane Erickson and the Racine Olson team of Estate Planning attorneys in Idaho. You can also email Lane Erickson directly at lve@racinelaw.net. We will answer your Idaho Estate Planning questions and will help you solve your Idaho Estate Planning problems.
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