Post-Death Task List
If you’ve struggled to keep up with the names of the players on your favorite low-budget professional sports team, you would appreciate “Whose on First?,” the classic comedy routine by Abbott & Costello. Confusion over proper roles, titles and responsibilities related to the administration of a trust or estate can similarly arise following the death of a loved one. Our law firm is currently administering a greater number of trust and estates than normal. According to the CDC, mortality rates are 8-12 percent higher in winter months than in other seasons. As occasioned by winter, the most morbid season of the year, in this month’s update I share a brief overview of the tasks associated with administering assets following death. Surviving family should involve the appropriate professionals and have a clear understanding of “who is on first” when it comes to trust and estate administration.
While every situation is different, here are three general categories of the tasks, and who should e involved in each task to be completed: