I gave my sister-in-law immediate access to enough money to pay my bills

Dear Len & Rosie,

I hope this is a simple question requiring a simple answer. I have a will requesting what I want done and who gets what after I die.

I also want my sister-in-law to get money to defray my burial expenses. I want to add her name to my checking account as a joint tenant so she will have immediate access to enough money to pay my bills.

I have heard or read somewhere that by adding her name to my checking account I would invalidate my will. Is this correct?

James

Dear James,

If attorneys could give simple answers to simple questions we’d be out of business. Still, we will do my best.

You will not “invalidate” your will by adding your sister-in-law to your checking account as a joint tenant. However, your will controls the disposition of property within your probate estate only. Your will cannot control property outside of your probate estate.

After you die, your probate estate will consist of everything you own on your death that does not automatically pass to another person by a right of survivorship or “pay on death” beneficiary designation. Also, if you have a trust, property held in the trust will not be in your probate estate, because you do not own it; the trustee of the trust does.

If you add your sister-in-law’s name to your checking account as a joint tenant, she will own the account after your death by right of survivorship, regardless of what you say in your will. Remember, joint tenancy accounts do not belong to your probate estate.

She will not be legally obligated to use the money to pay for your burial expenses or anything else for your benefit. The money will be hers, and you can rely only upon her good will that she will do as you wish.

If you trust her, then you can add her name to your account as a joint tenant and hope for the best. Alternatively, you can make arrangements for your death ahead of time by prepaying for your burial in advance.

But even if you do nothing, your burial will still be taken care of. After probate of your estate is opened, your Executor or Administrator will simply pay the mortuary from the assets of your estate before it is distributed to your heirs.

Len & Rosie
 

What is an executor, what does the job pay, and what can I do if I don’t want to do it?

Dear Len & Rosie,

A good friend of mine died last month, and I have just discovered that he named me as his executor. I haven’t the faintest idea what I’m supposed to do. I’m not an attorney, and I don’t know if I want to devote the time to it. I’m not even sure that I want to be executor. My friend is survived by his four adult children, two sons and two daughters. They have never gotten along with each other. I just know that they are going to start fighting over their father’s estate, which is worth over $500,000. Just last week they were arguing over who would get his stereo and television. What is an executor, what does the job pay, and what can I do if I don’t want to do it?

Edward

Dear Edward,

An “executor” is a person nominated in a will, and appointed by the court, to oversee the distribution of a decedent’s probate estate. The good news is that if you take the job, you get paid, and paid well. The probate executor (or administrator) gets paid the same fee as the probate attorney. In your case, a $13,000 statutory fee for an estate with a gross value (before debts are subtracted) of $500,000. If the estate is worth $1,000,000, you’ll get paid $23,000, for more or less the same amount of work.

It will be your responsibility to gather the assets of your friend’s estate. You will need to publish a notice to creditors to ensure that those your friend owed money to shall have the opportunity to present their claims for payment. All of the assets in the estate have to be inventoried, itemized, and accounted for before the court will order you to distribute the estate in the manner provided for by your friend’s will. Your friend may have a final income tax return due next April 15th. The estate will also have to file an income tax return if it earns more than $600 of income during the course of administration.

Most of the heavy living will be done by the lawyer you hire to probate the estate. Just follow the lawyer’s advice. The difficulty will be if your friend’s children fight with one another over every little thing. Your friends possessions of sentimental value should be divided equitably among his children and, hopefully, they can do this on their own. If they are fighting over the television, there’s an easy solution: Sell it to the highest bidder, or hire an agency to conduct an estate sale.

The real question is whether or not you want the job. If your friend’s children are going to fight over an old stereo and TV, you may not want the hassle. Or, you may not be a suitable person to be executor. You need to be honest, organized and diplomatic. You also need to be fairly good with your own money. This doesn’t mean you have to be well off, but if you can’t get your own bills paid you’re likely to have difficulties managing your friend’s assets. If you think you’ll get in over your head, don’t take the job.

If you don’t like the idea of having to put up with your friend’s children, you can simply decline the honor. Nobody can force you to be the executor. If you feel your friend’s children are going to fight over the estate like dogs snarling over a bone, then the $13,000 fee may not be worth the hassle. If you do not want the job, the next executor named in the will should do it, or your friend’s children will fight for the privilege of being executor.

Len & Rosie