Q: My
parents have established a trust and I’m designated to be the trustee upon
their death. Since this is complete,
what else is there really to do and why would I need help?
A: First,
let me say “congratulations” on your parents being forward thinking and
completing estate documents. This is a
step that should be completed by everyone, regardless of the size of the
estate. These documents will be vitally
important to you upon their death.
However, there is so much more to
closing the estate than just reading the documents and distributing the assets. For a lot of people, the amount of money is
not the determining factor for the amount of work that has to be completed.
Effectively, the estate documents
give you the power and ability to act on behalf of their estate. It gives direction as to their wishes and
provides you with information that is important in executing your duties. These documents do not make the grief process
any better or shorter; they don’t take phone call after phone call after phone
call; they don’t take care of writing letters; they don’t deal with companies
or problems; and they don’t know how to remove the emotion when dealing with
everything.
The day to day issues are the things that
most families find overwhelming and never ending. Most families react to what comes up or
assume that the attorney can handle everything.
While the attorney is a very important part of the entire process, there
are many seemingly small issues that arise that are not legal related but are
life related. If they aren’t taken care
properly, they will continue to come back and cause frustration.
When you accept the responsibility of
closing the estate of a family member of friend, remember that it’s important
to get it done right, and maybe not necessarily by you but by a professional.
Tisha Diffie, President
After the Fact - Final Affairs, LLC
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