Common Estate Administration Problems to be Aware of
When your loved one passes away, you may think that your duties as the executor of his or her estate are straightforward. Unfortunately, however, there are many potential pitfalls that can arise during the estate administration process. It is important to be aware of these possible estate administration problems, so you are prepared should they arise.
3 Potential Problems Every Executor Should Watch For
Examples of potential problems that can arise during an estate administration include the following:
- The will may be invalid. Have the estate attorney carefully review the will or trust to ensure that it meets all requirements under California law. If the will or trust does not meet these requirements and you begin the estate administration process regardless, you may have to undo some acts that were previously taken. If the will or trust is invalid, the estate will be administered as if it did not exist.
- You are told there is no will, when, in fact, there is. Ensure that no will exists before proceeding with an intestate probate
- administration. An intestate probate administration is one in which there was no will. Similarly, if a will exists, ensure that a more recent version does not exist. In some cases, you may assume either that there is no will or that you have the most recent version of the will. However, you may be unaware that the person who created it executed a different version before passing away without a notice.
- Executing the will results in unintended disinheritance. In some cases, people with good intentions execute wills or trusts that have an accidental consequence of disinheriting another party. An example involves the use of a mutually reciprocal will. This is where married couples leave everything first to each other, and then to their children. If the couple has children from previous marriages, the unintended consequence could be that the children of the first spouse to die do not inherit anything. This could potentially lead to major issues during the estate administration process.
Follow Up
With many potential problems during the process, it is important to choose the right attorney for your estate administration team. We encourage you to contact us today at (888) 443-6590 for more information.
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